Questions and Answers
by YoshiStack
Summary: I've managed to survive the first season, now onto the second one. With Aelita in the real world, new vehicles, new monsters, and a new sector, things are getting a bit crazy. And then I have my own mysteries to solve regarding my arrival in this world. Fun, right?
1. New Order

**Hey everyone! Welcome to the sequel to Hero's Destiny: Questions and Answers. I was gonna wait until April to publish this, but several of you guys have been really excited about this. So here's a gift: me publishing it early!**

 **...It may also be because I have no life and I'm still in a Code Lyoko kind of mood. Anyways...**

 **Now we're into season 2, which is the best season of Code Lyoko. It added so much without losing it's original concept. New Order is a great episode in my opinion, and fun fact: the only episode I ever saw on TV.**

 **I was 7 when Code Lyoko ended back in 2007. I recognized the show because my oldest brother would watch it when I was 4 or 5. I have a particular memory of seeing the intro for season 1. While browsing what was on a few months into 08, I noticed that there was a rerun of Code Lyoko airing. The episode in question? Episode 27, New Order.**

 **I had seen bits and pieces of the show, but I don't recall if I had ever made it through a full episode. I recorded and watched the episode, and fell in complete love with the characters, Lyoko, and all the action that happened. I even drew a shitty picture of all the characters, and that's saying something, cause I never did stuff like that. I looked all the time on the TV guide after that, but I never saw another rerun of the show again.**

 **New Order holds an extremely special place in my heart because of that. Let's get started, shall we?**

* * *

Chapter 1: New Order

I let out a groan when I heard my phone ring. I turned over and reached down to grab my phone. I didn't bother to look at the caller ID. Even if I didn't know exactly who it was, it was going to be one of four people.

"Hello...?" I said groggily.

"Emily! Where are you? Breakfast is almost over and today's the day!" Odd's cheerful voice told me. I shot up from my bed.

"It's today?!" I looked over at my calendar and gasped. The day was circled in a bright red marker. Two things were written in it. The first said "Field Trip", and the other? Well... It simply read 'Aelita'. "Oh man! I'll be down there as quick as I can," I quickly hung up and threw myself out of my bed.

I quickly changed out of my pajamas, pulling on my usual red shirt and gray Pokemon jacket. I reached down on my nightstand and pulled my glasses on. I looked around the room again. I quickly went around, making sure everything was in place. I pulled the covers of my bed back up in an admittedly half-assed attempt to make my bed. I turned to my door. I did one last scan over the room before exiting.

I ran as fast as I could to the outside of the cafeteria. I found Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi all waiting for me. "There you are." Yumi said in a playful tone. "I was beginning to think we'd have to go on without you!"

"I forgot today was the day," I sheepishly admitted. I suddenly saw a croissant held in front of me. Looking up, Ulrich was holding it out to me.

"Here, I saved you something," Ulrich said. I took the croissant and quietly thanked him. I bit into it as we walked into the park.

"Man," I started in between swallows. "I can't wait to see the look on Aelita's face. She's gonna be so excited!"

"It's gonna be great," Odd agreed, nodding his head. We reached the manhole cover as I finished the croissant. "Personally though, I'm most pumped to see my Overboard in all it's glory!"

"My Overbike will make your Overboard eat dust," Ulrich said. There was a playful look on his face.

"Oh, you are so ON!" Odd declared. I laughed as I unfolded my scooter.

"You should have a race when when we get on Lyoko. It'll be a good way to test the vehicles out, don't you think?" I suggested. They gave one another a competitive smirk.

We reached the factory quickly. We climbed up onto the bridge and ran to the entrance. We swung down on the ropes, then entered the elevator. I hit the button, and we went down to the lab.

Jeremy looked over at us when the doors opened. "Ah, there you! I was starting to think you guys had forgotten about us!" He motioned with his head to Aelita, who was on screen.

"Hello, Aelita!" I greeted. She nodded her head at us. "And uh, sorry about our tardiness. That was on an account of me," I admitted.

"What matters is that we're here now... And that I'm going to beat Ulrich in our race!" Odd cheered. Jeremy rolled his eyes, but the smile was still plain on his face.

"Get down to the scanners. Aelita is already waiting." Jeremy instructed. I hit the button again and we went down to the scanners. Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi all went first. Then I stepped inside one of them opened up. "Transfer, Emily. Scanner, Emily. VIRTUALIZATION!"

 **Lyoko**

I landed behind the others in the Desert Sector. Odd tapped his foot in anticipation.

"Ok, we're all here, Einstein! Where are the vehicles?" He asked impatiently. I let out a small laugh at the sight. He was SO excited. He hadn't shut up about the vehicles since Jeremy informed us he was making them. And two weeks of hearing Odd yak about them is quite awhile.

"Give him some time, Odd. He did only finish them yesterday," I reminded him. Jeremy had been working nonstop in the past two and a half weeks. He not only had been working on Aelita's antivirus, but he also decided that if the fight against XANA was going to continue, we needed better equipment.

"By the way, Emily, you'll be interested to know that Jeremy and I managed to give you a new ability." Aelita informed me. I looked over at her, surprised.

"Ability? What kind?" I asked, curiosity painting my tone.

"I gave you a shield of sorts. It's in your cape, and it can stand up to 30 like points worth of damage." Jeremy explained. I looked down at my cloak. I grabbed the edge and threw it in front of my body. It was long enough to cover most the areas one of XANA's monsters could hit.

"Hey, cool!" I exclaimed. "Thanks, Einstein!"

"You're welcome. And I think I've just about got it!" Jeremy said. Four outlines appeared in front of us. The colors filled in shortly after, and they became our vehicles.

Odd had the Overboard, which was a pink and purple board with a cat like face etched onto its front.

Ulrich, had the Overbike. It was a one wheeled motorcycle that was black and had a sleek design.

Yumi's vehicle was the Overwing, a large purple, almost scooter like vehicle. Aelita didn't have a specific vehicle, as she would just ride with whoever.

I had to grin when I finally saw my vehicle. It was a small go kart, looking similar in design to the Standard M Karts from Mario Kart Wii. It's main color was red. My vehicle was the Overkart, and was ecstatic to finally see it.

"Wow..." We all said. Ulrich and Odd gave one another a knowing look. They made a mad dash for their respective vehicles and took off.

"Well, this is surely going to end well." I said, hopping in my Overkart.

"Does that mean you're going to go join them?" Yumi asked. I grinned.

"You read my mind!" I pushed down on the pedal and sped away. It was an amazing feeling to see Lyoko's Desert Sector fly by me as I zoomed across it. I caught up with Ulrich and Odd in record time. "I'm joining on the shenanigans for once!" I informed them.

"You're on!" They both shouted in unison. Our race continued on through the sector. I could see Yumi and Aelita riding the Overwing in the distance, following us.

"You really did a great job, Jeremy! XANA better behave himself now that we've got these things! Whoa!' Odd exclaimed in elation. We drove through the rocks in the sector. I went past Ulrich, but Odd was still ahead of me.

"Be careful all the same." Jeremy advised him.

"Don't worry Einstein, I know how to ride! There's no way I'm gonna let Ulrich or Emily beat me!" Odd exclaimed, then sped up some more. I gripped my wheel tightly and looked over at Ulrich.

"Oh no you don't." Ulrich calmly said, then revved his bike up. We continued along into a path surrounded by walls. Odd positioned the Overboard so that he was riding alongside the walls, and then overtook the both of us.

"Ha ha!" He exclaimed.

Ulrich and I both rolled out eyes at him.

"Odd! I didn't have time to perfect the program that calculates trajectory!" Jeremy warned him. Odd didn't seem to take the warning to heart though. Ahead of us was a rock that would be perfect for a ramp. But y'know, I wasn't gonna push my luck with the trajectory.

Odd decided to try his luck and use that rock as a ramp. "Yeah! Huh?!" Odd exclaimed. He went off the ramp just fine, but unfortunately for him, there was a rock sitting atop a pillar of sorts. His Overboard crashed into the large rock, making him tumble to the ground.

Of course, since he was a cat, he landed on his feet. Ulrich let out a laugh as he went across the ramp. I followed, landing just a few inches away from the pillar Odd had run into. I got out of my kart as Yumi an Aelita neared. Aelita hopped down and helped Odd steady himself as he got up.

"Are you ok?" She asked in concern. Odd dusted himself off and nodded at her.

"Oh yeah. There's still some work to do on the Overboard, Jeremy." Odd said, sending an annoyed look at the sky.

"Maybe it's the rider who needs a little work, Odd." Jeremy told him. I had to laugh at that. Odd folded his arms at the remark.

"He did warn you, Odd." I reminded him. He let out a small 'humph' and ignored me.

"What's the matter Odd? You miss a step?" Ulrich laughed.

"Very funny. I'd like to see you on an Overboard." Odd said sharply.

"I guess surfing's not my thing." Ulrich remarked, making a wavy motion with his arm.

"Uh, sorry to interupt your fascinating conversation, but it looks like XANA has spotted you. Something's coming your way!" Jeremy warned us.

I tilted my head at his vague description. "Er, what exactly is on it's way?" I asked.

"It's... That's really weird! I can't tell what it is?" Jeremy suddenly exclaimed.

"Hey, what's that?!" Yumi asked, pointing off into the distance. It was a little difficult to see, considering it was kicking up dust, but it was obvious it was a new monster. It let out an agitated cry as it approached us. It's limbs were long, and it could move pretty quickly.

I reached down and gripped my staff tightly. "No idea, but it can't be good." I said.

"It looks like trouble. Big time." Ulrich agreed. We all looked over at Aelita.

"I've never seen a monster like that one before. XANA must have just created it." She deduced.

"In any case, it says here that's it's got more life points than the others." Jeremy said. The new monster finally stopped its trek to us. We looked at each other warily as the monster then picked up it's arms and pointed them at us. They were lasers!

"Ok, this is going to prove to be interesting." I noted, charging my staff.

"Jeremy! How about reprogramming our vehicles?!" Yumi suggested. I heard Jeremy let out a noise of affirmation.

"I'm on it already! But's going to take time." Jeremy said. We didn't even need to motion for Aelita to know it was time to hightail it out of there. Ulrich stepped forward to take the open spot she had left.

"On my signal." he declared.

"I'll go first." Yumi said.

"And I'm gonna keep it busy." Odd decided.

"Let's take this thing down!" I encouraged.

"NOW!" Ulrich yelled. He pulled out his saber. The momster began to fire at the four of us. Ulrich used his sword the deflect the blasts. I rolled to the sode and aimed my staff at it.

"Magic Blast!" I exclaimed. The white ball of energy sailed through the air but ultimately missed its target. Yumi launched herself over the monster. It stopped firing at the rest of us to turn to face her. She threw her fan, but it wasn't quick enough. The monster shot it down.

"Hey you overgrown spider, looking for me?" Odd shouted. The monster turned to face and fired at him. Odd got on all fours and vaulted himself onto the pillar he had hit earlier. He began climbing up, managing to get all the way to the top. He perched himself there and lofted his armcin preparation to fire. The monster kept firing though, eventually hitting the base of the rock on top. The rock fell forward, making the cat jump into the air, which made him a prime target to get hit.

"Odd! You just lost 20 life points!" Jeremy exclaimed. "It's got a powerful laser."

Odd looked back over at the new monster woth a look of disdain. "What does it take to destroy this thing?" He wondered. I ran over to him and gave him a hand.

"Evidentally, more than we're dishing out." I remarked. I gasped when I saw the monster fire at us again. I grabbed Odd, put him behind me, then grabbed the edge of my cloak and threw it in front of me. "Cloak Guard!" The laser hit a blue barrier, rather than me. I gave an impressed look at my cape. At least I knew it worked.

Ulrich then whistled to get the monsters attention. It turned to look at the brunette, then fired a few blasts. Ulrich deflected them all. He prepared to retaliate, but he made the mistake of looking over at Aelita. She was running towards a deactivated tower to get out of the sector. Ulrich then looked back in tome to see lasers coming his way. He couldn't react in time and was devirtualized.

"Vehicles ready," Jeremy announced. The outlines of the Overwing, Overboard, and Overkart all appeared.

"Well it's about time!" I quipped.

"C'mon! I'm doing my best!" Jeremy argued. I ran over and got into my Overkart. Yumi and Odd both hopped onto their vehicles as well.

"Let me go first." Odd ordered. Yumi and I nodded.

"Go on, we'll be watching you." Yumi said. Odd then took off into the air. He moved his body back and forth to try and dodge the lasers, which seemed to work well enough for him. He began spinning in circles while upside down. How he managed to stay ON the board was beyond me. "Laser Arrows!" He cried. Every shot missed, making the blond growl. He hit the nose of the monster with his Overboard as he went over it.

Yumi and I then joined him. I sped ahead of them and went after the monster myself. I pulled my staff out and tried to bang it against one of its arms. It didn't work, and my staff actually ended up flying out of my hand. I looked behind me and saw it lying on the ground. I pulled up on my controls and did a midair u-turn of sorts, but the monster had other ideas.

It shot me out of the air, making me land roughly on the ground. "Emily!" I heard Yumi exclaimed. I shook my head as I pulled myself up on my hands and knees. I then saw a shadow looming over me. It was the monster. It lifted its arm above its head.

I understood the motive. "Oh sh-" The arm slammed into my side, devirtualizing me.

 **Scanner Room**

I gripped my side as I fell out of my scanner. I groaned and put a hand to my head. I felt a headache coming on. Ulrich rushed over to me and helped support me as I stood up.

"Thanks," I managed. He nodded his head. Moments later, Yumi, Odd, and Aelita all stepped out of the scanners as well. "You guys ok?" I asked Yumi and Odd.

"Stupid monster..." I heard Odd mutter.

"I think this calls for a group meeting, don't you?" Jeremy said, not really leaving any room for argument, though I doubt any of us were disagreeing with him. The five of us entered the elevator and went up to the lab.

"That thing was a nightmare, Jeremy." I said as we entered. He turned the chair to face us as we all took a seat somewhere in the lab. Jeremy folded his hands with a concerned expression.

"If XANA's gonna start programing new monsters, that means out troubles, guys, have only just begun." He said. I frowned at that, then rubbed my head slightly. The headache was annoying me more than it should have.

"Anyway Einstein, one thing is sure. You're going to have to program our vehicles faster. Otherwise, we don't stand against those Tarantulas!" Odd said, making a strange wriggling movement with his hand.

Yumi cocked a brow. "Your aunt what?" She questioned.

"Tarantulas, the new monsters. I like to give my enemies a name," Odd explained. I shrugged. The name worked with me.

"What bugs me though, is that XANA seems to have gotten more powerful." I said.

"He seems to have a found a way to increase his power." Jeremy agreed.

"Do you think he's still evolving?" Ulrich asked.

Jeremy gave him an unsure look. "Maybe so. In any case, from now on we have to be ready for anything and everything,"

Aelita stood up upon hearing this. "Maybe I better get back to Lyoko. If Xana activates a tower, I'd better be there." She was about to turn to go to the elevator. Jeremy looked at us with knowing look. He was trying his best to hide the grin on his face.

"Uh, should we tell her?" He asked. Aelita turned back at this.

"Well of course we should tell her! Why keep good news like that a secret?" Yumi pointed out. At this point, Aelita had a lost look on her face.

"Keep what a secret? Will someone please tell me what's going on?" She asked. I grinned and looked to Jeremy to explain.

"Over the past couple weeks, I've spent all my time developing the vehicles and an antivirus to free you from XANA." He paused, looking at all of us. "But I also pefected a whole new program for detecting activated towers."

"A super scanner. Much more accurate than the old one," Odd elaborated.

"And the best feature? It's got instant detection." I added.

"Which means that you don't have to stay on Lyoko all the time!" Jeremy finished. The look of shock on Aelita's face was absolutely priceless. Her eyes were wide and her jaw had dropped slightly.

"So, I'm gonna live..?" She trailed off, a smile on her face.

"Here, with us." Ulrich confirmed with a nod. "We've already enrolled you as a boarder at the school."

"Everything's all set up. We wanted to surprise you." Yumi explained, putting her arm around Aelita. The pink haired girl looked at all of us, still shocked.

"But—I—this is so wonderful, I can't believe it."

I looked at my phone and pretended to grimace. "Well, I'd love to stick around and help you get settled in, Aelita, but I've got some stuff I need to grab before the field trip today." She nodded in understanding. As we entered the elevator together, I winked at the boys. They grinned back at me. We had one more surprise in store for Aelita, and I had a feeling she was going to like it a lot.

 **My Dorm**

I raced back to my room as fast as my legs could carry me. I knew my time was limited, so I bid the other a temporary farewell and wasted no time in getting there. I checked over my room again. Nothing seemed too out of place. I nodded, then sat on my bed and waited. I rubbed my head again. The headache hadn't gotten any worse, but it was still there, annoying me.

A few minutes later, I heard Jim's booming voice in the hall, explaining the where the halls led to in the dorm building. I snapped my head up and grinned when I heard him. I shook my headache off temporarily, and stood in the middle of the room with a grin on my face.

"...And this will be your room. You'll be rooming with-" Then the door opened, revealing Jeremy, Ulrich, Odd, and Aelita standing outside the door.

Aelita's eyes went wide when she saw me. I grinned at her with my hands in my pockets. "Emily!" She practically squealed, running up to me and enveloping me in a hug.

"Surprise!" I whispered.

"Ah, I see you two already know each other." Jim noted, scratching his chin. I nodded at him.

"We've been pen pals for awhile now." I quickly lied. Luckily, I'd prepared that lie in advance. Jim seemed satisfied with that answer.

"Well, I'm sure you'll like it here, Miss um..."

"Stones. Aelita Stones, like the rock group. I'm Odd's cousin from Canada." Aelita said politely.

"Ah. So Aelita, breakfast starts at 7 AM, and dinner is served at 7 PM. It's against the rules to be in your room between 8 AM and 4:30 PM." Jim listed off. "You can ask you friends Della Robbia, Stern, Belpois, and Carroll to fill you in on the rest of them... that is, if they can _remember them._ " Jim gave us all a harsh look when he said that. After he walked away, we all grinned at her.

She looked at us all gratefully. "I can't even begin to thank you all for this," She said.

"Eh, what are friends for, right?" Odd said, throwing his arms around Ulrich and Jeremy's shoulder.

"We thought it might be easier for you to settle in if you had a roommate, and Emily was the obvious choice in that front." Jeremy said, motioning to me with his hand.

"And I'm more than happy to room with you." I said. I then felt a sharp pain in my head and winced. The grins on everyone's face faltered.

"You ok, Emily?" Ulrich asked. I moved the hand I had brought to my head and nodded, my eyes closed.

"Yeah. Just... just a headache." I said. "Don't worry about it, guys. You guys go get your stuff for the trip today, and I'll help Aelita with her stuff." The boys all nodded and left, closing the door. "Alright, I get you don't have a lot of stuff, but let's get it put away anyways."

 **Later**

As I thought, it hardly took any time to get Aelita's things put away. After we were done, we made our way down the stairs and out into the main part of campus. Ms. Hertz was standing there, surrounded by almost everyone in the 8th and 9th grade. Milly and Tamiya were walking away with disappointed looks on their faces as they walked away from Ms. Hertz.

"Ah, there's Jeremy." I said, pointing at him. Aelita nodded and walked ahead of me. I was going to follow, but someone bumped into me, knocking me to the ground.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." The person said.

"It's cool. It happens." I waved it off. He stuck his hand up to help me. I looked up at him, and I had to keep my eyes from going wide. He wore a dark shirt over a red shirt and a pair of jeans. It was hard not to recognize him.

"I'm William. William Dunbar." William introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you, William. I'm Emily Carroll." I introduced. I winced a little bit when I felt my headache acting up again.

William didn't seem to notice it. "I just transferred here. Have you seen Yumi Ishiyama around anywhere?" He asked, looking around the campus.

"No, but if I'll tell her you're looking for her if I see her." I told him.

"Ok. Thanks a lot. See you around, Emily!" William walked past me. I waved to him then continued on to see Jeremy and Aelita.

"..What's this field trip everyone's talking about?" I heard Aelita ask.

"We're going to make a biodiversity scrapbook. Ms. Hertz wants us to take pictures to draw plants, and flowers. That kind of thing. You and I have been paired up to work together," Jeremy replied with a smile.

"And me," I reminded him with a stern glance.

"And Emily," he added quickly.

"Great" Aelita said to us.

I looked over at Odd and couldn't help but laugh. He was struggling to keep his backpack still. The reason for that? Kiwi was wiggling around trying to get a look at all the people. I could see the mutts cone shaped nose poking out of his bag.

"Yep, that's not suspicious at all Odd. Any reason in particular you're smuggling Kiwi in your bag?" I asked. He quickly put a finger to my lip and looked around nervously.

"You know exactly why! This is perfect time for him to finally be able to run around without worrying about any of the teachers." He then looked around again. "By the way, have any of you guys seen Ulrich?"

"He's under the arches. I think he's waiting for Yumi." Aelita answered. Odd quickly thanked her and took off to get him.

I looked forward to see Ms. Hertz waving for us all. "Looks like it's time to go."

 **Path to Forest**

You'd think being paired up with two of the smartest students at school would make things great, as long as you do your fair share of work of course. But the pair of Jeremy and Aelita were making my headache worse.

"Did you know that trees grow new branches from one year to the next according to an exponential ratio of 1.6?" Jeremy asked Aelita.

"1.618 to be exact. It's the golden ratio." Aelita replied cheerfully. "Say, do you think nature obeys nonlinear equation systems?"

I groaned and rubbed my head. "You two are killin' me.' I said. I heard them both laugh at my misery. Their laughter stopped when I suddenly took a sharp breath as my headache worsened again.

They gave each other a worried look before looking back at me. "Emily, are you sure you don't want us to take you to the infirmary?" Jeremy asked. "And I really do mean the infirmary. Not Lyoko."

I smiled at his joke. "I-I'm fine. If it gets that bad, I promise I'll tell you guys." I assured them. I don't think that really convinced them, but we continued on. " _Man, maybe I really should've gone to the infirmary. Hope I'm not getting sick..._ "

"Nah, there aren't any monsters in these woods." Jeremy said. I must've missed whatever brought that topic up. "That only happens in fairytales or in silly horror pictures."

"Or Lyoko. Happens there too." I threw out. I could practically hear he eyeroll Jeremy gave me.

"You don't like horror films?" Aelita inquired.

"I find them inaccurate, scientifically speaking." Jeremy replied.

"Eh, I just personally like to make fun of them." I said with a shrug. hen, in my best old lady impression, I said, "Would you mind getting inside the oven to clean it for me?" Seeing the confused looks on Jeremy and Aelita's faces made me laugh.

"Anyways, I don't have time to go to the movies. I've got my work cut out for me with XANA." Jeremy reached into his bag, then gasped in horror. "Oh no, I don't believe it! I left my laptop in my room. What if XANA attack?"

"Run back and get it. Emily and I can continue by ourselves.' Aelita assured him.

"And I bet with the work we've already gotten done, we're bound for an A." I said, though the grade seemed to be the last thing on his mind.

"Yeah. Be right back!" He ran of, leaving the two of us alone.

We continued along again. I rubbed my head again, trying my best to keep Aelita's worrying to a minimum.

She didn't really seem to notice my pain though. She was tensed up and holding her notepad close to her chest. "Monsters only exist in fairytales, monsters only exist in fairytales," She muttered to herself.

"Aelita, it's fine. This isn't like Lyoko. Th- argh!" I gripped my head tightly and cried out in pain. The level of pain was worse than the whole Amnesia incident, and that was bad.

I could vaguely hear Aelita say something, then heard her scream. I saw her figure run away. I had fallen to my knees and tried to stand up, but I fell flat on my face. My ears were ringing as I reached out to try and stop the pink haired girl, but it was no use. I felt my vision becoming black.

Yep. Definetely should've gone to the infirmary.

 **Unknown Area**

I groaned as I opened my eyes. I became very alarmed quickly. I wasn't in the forest anymore. I quickly sat up and was surprised to find myself in little to no pain. But I had bigger things to worry about.

I was in something LIKE the forest, but it was different. And I'm not talking about plants or something of that nature (pun unintentional for once). The entire area I was in had some strange sort of grayscale effect on it. I frowned.

"Well, if this is a XANA attack, it's certainly the most interesting one I've ever seen." I decided. I then turned to find another huge surprise. A gigantic door was behind me, blocking whatever was past it. It was just a gray as everything else. Looking to the sides, the door seemed to stretch across the entire area. I pressed my hand to the door.

It felt like a normal wooden door. But it didn't make any sense. What was a door doing there? Then, I heard a voice echo around me.

" _This path will open to you soon. The Key to your real journey is somewhere near._

I made a face at the completion of the message. "Real journey? Key? What?"

 _"...ly!... o... hear me?"_ I looked around in confusion at the sudden voice. It wasn't like the last one. This one was familiar.

 _"...ake up! Emily! Wake up!"_ The world around me faded to black, as did my mind.

 **Forest**

I felt a hand on my shoulder as I opened my eyes. My vision was blurry, and I could tell my glasses weren't on my face. As my vision slowly cleared, I saw Ulrich and Odd kneeled next to me. I groaned. My head hurt, but not like it had before. My headache was completely gone.

"Emily! Are you ok!?" Odd asked. Ulrich handed my glasses back to me.

"Yeah... I think so." I answered. I looked at my arms. There was a hole in my jackets elbow where I had skinned my elbow. I had a few more cuts on my arm, and one on my face. Nothing deep, but they hurt. I was covered in dirt as well.

"Did XANA attack you? Where's Aelita?" Ulrich asked. He and Odd slowly helped me to my feet. I moved my eyes away from them. I wasn't sure I should tell them what I'd seen. I was still trying to figure out what it meant. I finally shook my head.

"No, I don't think it was XANA. My head just hurt really badly was all. And I don't know." I closed my eyes to try and remember what happened. "Last I remember, I was trying to tell her that this wasn't like Lyoko's Forest Sector." I said. I saw them both grimace.

"XANA's launched an attack. Jeremy told us he'd tried calling you, but you never picked up. He sent us to find you two." Odd explained. I looked at my phone. Four missed calls.

I looked over to see Kiwi sniffing at the notepad Aelita had been using. "Hey, Kiwi might be able to pick up her scent." I noted.

"Let's follow him. He may be a little dumb, but he does have a good nose." Odd agreed. We heard a rustling sound behind us, which Ulrich decided to react to by trying to kick it. Fortunately, he ended up stopping just short of Yumi's face. She gave him a slightly amused look.

"Hey, nervous aren't we? What a warm welcome; nice." She said. Ulrich gave her a blank look, then turned from her to walk with Odd and I.

"Yumi, we can't find Aelita!" Odd told her.

 **Hermitage**

Aelita looked up nervously at the house in front of her. The sign on the fence had said it was called the. Hermitage. She was beginning to wish she'd not run away, but it was too late now. She asked if anyone was home and received no answer. She entered the home, sending dust everywhere.

The house had been abandoned, she was almost positive of that, possibly ransacked as well. The furniture of all the rooms was overturned, and various items were scattered across the floor. The floor was covered in dirt, and several of the walls had holes in them.

She let her fingers travel across the dusty wooden shelves as she walked through the main hall. There was something... off, about this house to her, but she couldn't pinpoint what it was exactly. She entered what appeared to have once been a family room. It was in the same condition as the rest of the house. She looked over at where a broken mirror was.

A sharp pain went through her mind. She stumbled forward and grabbed the mantle shelf, closing her eyes tightly. She could faintly hear something. A melody, a song. It was being played on a piano, she was sure of that. It was so recognizable to her for whatever reason.

She swore she could see the person playing it as well. In a flash, she could see the house, not looking nearly as run down, but an actual livable space. She could see a tall man with gray hair wearing a lab coat playing the melody. The man paused and looked at. Her grip on the shelf tightened.

She opened her eyes, and the house looked no different. It was still run down, old, and dusty.

She heard a noise behind her, then let out a scream.

 **Forest Path**

Yumi looked at my slightly scratched face and frowned. "What happened to you?" She asked.

"I uh... passed out..." I admitted, looking down sheepishly. "I'm fine now though!" I quickly added. She seemed unsure. We continued walking behind Kiwi until we saw a large, slightly decrepit looking house. I gulped.

The Hermitage. I knew this house well. There was a sign that had it's name on the front fence, looking just as worn out as the building itself.

Odd had pulled his phone out and was speaking with Jeremy. "Don't tell me you guys haven't found either one of them yet!? What have you guys been doing?! They could be in big danger!" I heard Jeremy berate. I was half tempted to snatch the phone out of Odd's hand to yell back at him.

"Hey chill, Jeremy, we're doing all we can. We found Emily already. She had passed out in the forest."

"Wait, she passed out!? Is she-"

"I'm fine, and can we move on?" I said loudly. I was admittedly embarrassed about the whole situation. I folded my arms and looked down while gripping my sleeves.

"Anyways, maybe Aelita went back to school already. Kiwi led us to an old house in the woods. We're gonna check it out. We'll call you back if we have any news." Odd slipped the phone into his moved to enter the house.

"Aelita?" Ulrich called out. The door slammed behind us, locking us inside. Odd tried to handle, but it wouldn't budge.

"It's locked!"

"No signal." I then said, looking at my phone.

A desk then began to slide quickly towards us. "Look out!" Yumi pointed at it. Odd quickly dove to his right and Ulrich pulled me out of its path. It crashed into the door, sending what remained of the glass window flying out. The desk itself had become only tiny pieces of wood.

"That way!" Ulrich pointed. We ran over to a table and stopped to catch our breath. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"XANA' Yumi affirmed.

"Unless I suddenly became trapped in the world of Paranormal Activity rather than this one, it's XANA for sure." I agreed sarcastically.

"And that must mean Aelita is nearby." Odd deduced. I nodded, then gasped. A box of cutlery fell off the shelf it was on and came flying our way! I pushed the others down to avoid the knives. We sent dust flying everywhere when we hit the ground.

We ran out of the room only to be met by a lamp and its cohorts: dishware.

"Hey, Odd! Watch out!" Ulrich exclaimed. Odd ducked in the nick of time to avoid the lamp crashing into him. Looking around frantically, we ran down the stairs next to us.

"Looks like XANA's trying to lead us somewhere." Yumi noticed. We looked around again. At the end of the hall was an unconscious Aelita. She looked like she was in a boiler room of sorts.

"Aelita!" We all exclaimed, then ran over to her. Odd and I stayed outside of the room. Ulrich and Yumi helped her up as she woke up.

"Don't worry, Princess, we're here." Ulrich told her.

"Ulrich, it's a trap! XANA, he's going to-" The door suddenly slid close...

Or at least it would've, had Odd not managed to stop it with his body. He was struggling to hold the door up with his foot. "Get Aelita out!" He urged. I quickly grabbed ahold of the door handle to try and ease the load. Aelita crawled under Odd's leg as quickly as possible. Yumi tried to follow, but it was too late. Odd fell backwards as the door finally closed. Ulrich and Yumi were trapped inside.

I gasped when I saw the temperature gauge beginning to rise. "You'll be cooked alive if we don't get you out of there!" We all grabbed the handle again to try and open the door. I grabbed the handle, then put my feet on the wall to give myself a bit more of a push, but it was no use. The door wouldn't budge.

"Odd, Emily, run to the factory with Aelita. Deactivate the tower. It's our only hope." Ulrich told us. Odd and I nodded.

"C'mon!" Odd grabbed Aelita's hand and ran forward. There was another door at the end of the hall. I grabbed the handle and tried it, but it was locked.

"Damn it! XANA's thought of everything." I looked back at Odd and Aelita. "We'll have to go- look out!" Another desk was skidding our way. Odd pushed Aelita and I out of the way, then leapt over desk, allowing it to crash into the door. When the dust cleared, it revealed that the door had been broken by the desk. Kiwi was standing at the door, wagging his little tail.

"Kiwi!" Odd exclaimed. The mutt leapt into Odd's arms.

"Great, now we just have to find a way to get to the factory in a timely manner." I said half dejectedly. Odd and I were about to go forward, but Aelita stopped us by grabbing my arm. "Aelita?"

"There's a passage over there. I... I think it leads to the sewers." She said. Odd gave her an unamused glance.

"This is no time for jokes, Aelita."

"I'm not joking, Odd. I'm sure." She countered.

I shrugged. "I'm all for trying it at this point." I said. I opened the door, Odd and Aelita following behind me. I wasn't surprised at all to find the passage. Odd on the other hand, was astounded.

"Wow, incredible! How did know about this?" Odd asked. Aelita opened her mouth to respond, but then had a troubled look on her face.

"I'm... I'm not really sure." She answered honestly. Odd lifted an eyebrow upon hearing that

"We can worry about that later. For now, we need to get to Lyoko before Yumi and Ulrich become well-done steaks." I reminded them.

We, of course, hightailed it to the factory. The elevator opened to the lab, revealing a very stressed looking Jeremy.

"Aelita! I was really worried!" Jeremy said. Odd out a hand up to stop him from continuing.

"No time to lose, Einstein. Otherwise, Ulrich and Yumi will end up like dim sum," Odd explained. Jeremy was hardly surprised by that. Comes woth the job after having it for so long I guess.

"Ok, head for the scanners. I'll start the process." I hit the button and sent us down. I entered the scanner, and its doors soon closed around me. "Transfer, Aelita. Transfer, Odd. Transfer, Emily. Scanner, Aelita. Scanner, Odd. Scanner, Emily. VIRTUALIZATION!"

 **Lyoko**

We found ourselves landing in the Ice Sector. The Overboard, Overwing, and Overkart all appeared in front of us.

"Aelita, the Overwing is for you," Jeremy said above us. Odd looked at us with a grin on his face.

"Our taxis are waiting for us," he hopped onto his board and sped forward, with Aelita and me following shortly after. It was hard to miss the tower as we sped across the icy path.

"Tower dead ahead," I reproted to Jeremy.

"Be careful! You've got three Tarantulas guarding it." Jeremy cautioned us. The three of us stopped behind a large mass of ice. It gave us a good view of the playing field.

"There's no way we can take out three of those horrors!" Odd exclaimed. Aelita looked at the new monsters and put a finger to her chin in thought.

"They can't be invincible, Odd. We're gonna have to push our way through." I closed my eyes and thought back to ournprevious encounter. "They can't move and shoot at the same time. We need to use that to our advantage."

"Maybe I can lure away one of them," Aelita then suggested.

"Oh," Odd and I gave each other a mischevious look.

"Aelita, what are you planning on doing?" Jeremy asked suspiciously.

"She's gonna steal the show!" Odd answered cryptically. Aslota then grabbed hold of the Overwings controls and went off ahead of us. Odd meanwhile, flew over to the edge of the area and positioned himself underneath the sector.

I sped forward towards the tower with the intention of taking out another Tarantula. They began to open fire as they saw me speeding towards them, but I was able to dodge them a bit more easily since I was on the ground.

As I nearered closer and closer to one of the Tarantulas, I braced myself. When I was only about a foot away, I leapt out of my vehicle and rolled to the side. The Overkart smashed into the monster, leaving it atunned. I then wuickly stood up and fired a Magic Blast. I killed it instantly with it.

"That's for earlier, asshole!" I yelled. I looked over at Odd and Aelita.

Odd had just killed the Tarantula that had gone after Aelita. "They're not all that invincible." He said somewhat smugly. He then looked at his hands nervously. "Uh oh. Jeremy, I'm out of ammo."

My attention was snapped back to the Tarantula near me when it fired at me. It hit me in the back. "Oh, playing dirty are we?" I growled at it. "Cloak Guard!" I pulled my cape around me and grunted. The second laser broke through it, costing me 10 more life points.

"Emily, you're point loss rate is too high. Odd's on his way to give a hand, but I've got to reload his arrows." Jeremy told me.

"Hey, I'm trying my best out here!" I reminded him. Soon enough, Odd was flying in with his Overboard. He was leaning side to side to avoid the laser blasts, and even circled around the tower to avoid getting shot.

"Odd, you're fully loaded!"

"Great! I'm breaking off! Hop on, Emily!" Odd lowered himself to allow me to hop aboard. I grabbed onto his shoulders to keep myself balanced. We raced towards the edge of the area, then made a sharp turn back. The Tarantula fired at the both of us and Odd fired back. "Aelita! Now!" Odd shouted.

I could see Aelita emerge from her hiding spot and begancto dash to the tower. I then jumped off of the Overboard seconds before it met its demise. Odd crashed to the ground.

"Magic Blast!" I fired another spell, but this on missed the target. Didn't really matter though. Aelita made it inside safe and sound.

"Yeah!" Odd cheered. The Tarantula looked back at the tower and let out a wail.

"Return to the past, now!" Jeremy's voice echoed. The world was then engulfed in white.

 **Kadic Main Campus**

"Yes, Jeremy, my headache is gone and I'm fine. Now can we please drop the subject?" I said for what seemed like the umpteenth time. Neither he or Aelita seemed completely happy with my answer, but they finally let it go.

Ulrich and Odd approached us shortly afterwards. "Did you two manage to get any drawings done this time?" Jeremy asked.

"Yeah, but I had to drag Ulrich far away from Yumi and William. Going back in time didn't change anything there." Odd whispered back to us. I could see Ulrich practically glaring at William as he said goodbye to Yumi.

"I went to check out that house, the Hermitage; nothing to report. It's gone back to being a normal house. Abandoned, but normal." Jeremy said as Yumi arrived.

Aelita looked back towards the woods "It's so weird, all those visions I had there." She noted.

"Not to mention the underground passage that you knew about," Odd said.

"It's as if I'd already seen that house. In a dream." Aelita elaborated.

"A new mystery to solve for us." Yumi noted, looking at Ulrich.

"That alongside why Emily passed ou-"

"DELLA ROBBIA, DROP IT!" I seethed. Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi had a surprised look at my outburst. I took a calming breath. "Sorry. Look, I just don't think there's a 'mystery' to solve. Maybe I accidentally locked my knees. Wouldn't be the first time," I said somewhat bitterly.

"How exactly do you accidentally lock your knees?" Ulrich asked.

"Happens more often than you'd think in band." Was all I answered with. I wasn't ready to tell them what I'd seen. Maybe later, but now was not the time. " _I guess I'll have my own mystery to solve. I'll let the other in on it eventually... When I've learned more,"_

"By the way, Aelita, this is for you." Jeremy handed a small wrapped box to her. She took it with surprise. "It's to keep us one step ahead of XANA."

"For me?" She pulled the paper off of the box to reveal a pink cellphone.

"This way, we can always stay in touch. I thought that pink would suit you." Jeremy explained. She pulled the phone out of the box and stared at it.

Odd had to laugh. "Hey, it matches your hair!" He joked. "You're like a regular school kid now!"

"Thank you, Jeremy!" Aelita gave the blond a hug as we all laughed.

* * *

 **Uh... I may have gone a tad overboard with the chapter. I mean, they're gonna be longer in general I'd imagine, but this was a bit ridiculous.**

 **Please keep in mind what I said in Hero's Destiny: why I'm there will not overtake the main plot. Yeah yeah, maybe you don't like that desicion, but it's not up to you.**

 **Also, notice the shiny T rating. I bumped it up mostly so that I could let my foul mouth run around. I'm a pe** **rson that swears a lot, so might as well include it.**

 **See you guys next time for Uncharted Territory!**


	2. Uncharted Territory

**Glad to see you guys are so excited about this story! It warms my heart to see all the emails about reviews, follows, and favorites. Thanks a lot! Keep on leaving those reviews!**

 **Uncharted Territory is another episode I really like. It also contains my favorite Aelita quote (among several). It's also the episode that established Aelita as my favorite character.**

 **Aside from that though, it leads us to more new and important items: Sector 5, Franz Hopper, and all the new and dangerous monsters!**

* * *

Chapter 2: Uncharted Territory

 _I found myself staring at the door again. How I brought myself back to it, I've no idea. Nothing about it had changed, but it was still puzzling me. I couldn't understand it. What did those messages mean?_

 _"The Key to your real journey is near... The hell does that even mean?" I asked myself aloud. "Was XANA not the one who sent me...? Then again, that would make some sense. He would've had some incentive, so he probably would've sent me to Sector 5. Maybe not use the Scyphozoa, if it even existed then, but held me captive at least."_

 _That did nothing to ease my concerns. "But... If it wasn't XANA, then who was it? Not Hopper, he wouldn't risk exposing himself at this point. So who!? And what is this door?!" I let out an exasperated sigh. I kicked the door lightly with my foot in frustration. It didn't budge. Of course not._

 _I huffed and sat down in front of the gate with my arms crossed. "I WILL discover your secrets... Even if it takes me awhile." I vowed to the door. If didn't respond. Because, y'know, it's a door._

 _My head snapped up in surprise when I heard a distant scream. The gray world began to fade around me, and the scream became less distant. The world finally faded completely, and I found my vision fading along with it._

 **Dorm Room**

I opened my eyes and sat up upon hearing Aelita scream. She must've woken me up and pulled me out of the 'dream'. Really, I don't think it counted as a dream, but I didn't know what else to call it.

Sharing a room with her had been great for the most part. She was a whiz in math and science, and actually managed to explain it to me in an way that made sense for the most part, which is more than I can say for Jeremy. But she'd been having an issue with nightmares, and she'd wake up screaming the past few nights.

I gave her a sympathetic expression as she rubbed her head. "You ok?" I asked in concern. She gave me a surprised look. She must've thought I was still asleep.

"Y-yes. I'm fine." She assured me.

"Same one?"

"...Yes," she looked down at her feet. I pulled my covers off of me and walked over to her.

Putting a hand on her shoulder I said, "Hey, don't worry about it. Everyone has bad dreams from time to time."

"Yes but... this often?" She asked me.

"Well, it's certainly not unheard of." I replied. I went over to the closet and began pulling my clothes out. It was the usual ensemble: red shirt, my trusty old jeans, and my favorite gray Pokemon jacket. "In any case, we can talk with Jeremy if they don't go away soon."

"Are you going to the showers?" Aelita asked me as she grabbed her things. I shook my head.

"I shower every other day, and in the evening as well. Sissi thinks I'm a freak for it, but at least I know I can handle a bit of dirt on my skin." I smirked at my own comment. I heard Aelita let out a small laugh as she left the room.

I changed into my day clothes quickly. There was something in particular that I'd remembered about this episode that I desperately wanted to change. I grabbed my school stuff then hurried out of the room. I made my way to the hall for the girls bathroom to see the long line standing there. And there was Sissi talking with Aelita.

"Ahem," I cleared my throat, catching both of their attentions. "I'd ask what you're doing, Sissi, but I get the feeling I already know.." I looked towards Aelita. "Whatever she just told you, it's a trick. She's just trying to get you into trouble." I warned her.

Sissi folded her arms in annoyance. "Oh please, Carroll! She's going to have to learn to adapt without your help. It's a jungle out there." She said with her irritating voice. She smiled one of her smug smiles.

I smirked, deciding to steal a line from Odd. "You can say that again, I'm looking at a big baboon right now!" Everyone on the floor aside from Sissi burst out laughing. I grinned due to the laughter. Sissi let out a final irritated growl before storming away.

I turned to look at Aelita, nodded at her, then left for the campus. I pulled out my phone, intent on using it to pass the time, but another voice distracted me.

"Hey!" I looked up and was surprised to find William approaching me. "Emily, right?"

"That'd be me." I affirmed with a nod. "Need something?"

He shrugged. "Am I not allowed to say hi to a friend?"

"You consider us friends?" I asked in surprise. "We've only ever talked once."

"Eh, once is enough with me." He said nonchalantly. "Yumi mentioned that she knew you while we were on that field trip. Are you friends with her?"

"Yeah, one of the first ones I made when I arrived at Kadic." I replied. It wasn't entirely a lie. "Sounds like you're becoming pretty friendly with her yourself."

He scratched the back of his head. "Yeah. Uh, by the way, you wouldn't happen to know where Ms. Meyer's class is, would you?" He asked somewhat sheepishly.

"Uh, yeah, it's back that way. Weren't they supposed to give you a map of the school? I got one when I arrived." I inquired.

"I may or may have not lost it?" William responded, though it sounded a bit like a question. I chuckled at bit at that, then reached into my bag. I pulled out a slightly crinkled piece of paper and handed it to him.

"Here, you can have the one they gave me. If you lose that one though, you're SOL." I said. He nodded at me and smiled.

"Hey, thanks a lot! I'll see you around!" William waved to me as he turned to leave. Yumi approached me as he left.

"Hey there. What did William want?" She asked me.

"Oh, he just got lost and needed a new map of the school." I explained. I saw no harm in trying to be friendly with him. It's not like he knew what was to happen in the future, and he was going to get enough shit from Ulrich as it is. Yumi chuckled and shook her head.

"Yep, that sounds about right." She laughed. "Oh, here come the others." I looked over to see Ulrich, Odd, Jeremy, and Aelita all approaching. Ulrich nodded at us.

"Morning, ladies." He greeted.

"Man, you guys aren't gonna believe what I found last night!" Jeremy said excitedly. "You know that house, the Hermitage? Well, I did some digging, and I found out that the owner of the house was a man named Franz Hopper." He informed us.

"So you think Hopper has something to do with the supercomputer?" I asked. He raised a hand to silence me.

"Wait, let me finish. I also found out that there was a teacher that taught at Kadic named Franz Hopper." Yumi and I looked at one another, then at Jeremy in surprise.

"So you think the owner of the Hermitage and the science teacher are the same person?" Yumi asked.

"Well, let's face it, huh? Finding two guys called 'Franz Hopper' in a radius of less than half a mile would sure be a real coincidence." Ulrich pointed out. He had a good point.

"Anyway, there's only one way to be sure. After history class, we have a study period in the library. What do you say we do a little research in the Kadic Academy archives?" Jeremy suggested. Ulrich and Odd both had smirks on their faces as they nodded.

"Good idea." Odd said.

"I'll go with you." Aelita said. To her surprise, Jeremy shook his head.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Huh?"

"There's already going to be three of us. Any more, and the teachers may get suspicious with us." Jeremy explained as the bell rang. He, Ulrich, and Odd all continued forward to go to class. "We'll see you later. We'll meet you in the cafeteria." I was about to follow them, but I noticed Aelita was still looking down. Yumi seemed to notice this as well.

She put a hand on Aelita's shoulder. "Are you alright, Aelita?" The pinkette looked back at us with a slightly hurt looking expression.

"I can't get used to living here. I had another nightmare last night; the same one." Aelita admitted. She looked towards Yumi.

"You haven't even been here for a week yet. You'll see, you'll feel better in no time." Yumi assured her. I gave thumbs up to the statement. Aelita smiled at us both. It was a weak smile, but still a smile.

"Now c'mon. We don't wanna be late to class."

 **Admin Building**

History came and went, and soon Ulrich, Odd, and Jeremy were running towards the location of the archives. Ulrich and Odd took a position near the main exit to watch for the secretary, or anyone else that could possibly pass by.

Jeremy was somewhat surprised to find the door unlocked. He took a cautious peek inside the room, then entered as quietly as he could, shutting the door behind him. In front of him were several filing cabinets with letters on them. He turned towards the ones closest to him and began scanning through them

"F, G, H.. H for Hopper!" He pulled open the F-O drawer. He then began to look for the particular folder he was after. "Hopper, Hopper..." He pulled out the one that seemed to be correct. The first paper in the file had what appeared to be Franz Hopper's signature. Jeremy pulled out the document he had printed out earlier and compared the two. There were small differences of course, but it was obvious it was the same guy. "Bingo!" He quickly put the folder away again and closed the drawer.

He opened the door again and nearly cringed when he saw Ulrich and Odd talking with the secretary. "Come to think of it, at this time of day if you can't your teachers, that means they're probably in class."

Thinking fast, Jeremy walked out of the room and said, "It's ok guys. I found Ms. Hertz." It seemed to work well enough, and they managed to leave without incident.

Odd let out a breath of relief. "Boy, that was a close one."

"Well?"

"No doubt about it. I compared the signature with the one on the property deed I found on the internet; they're the same." Jeremy said.

Ulrich let out a hum, suddenly getting an idea. "What if we take a look around the Hermitage and find more about this teacher?" He suggested.

"Good idea." Jeremy nodded. Odd gave them both an unsure look.

"But, aren't we supposed to meet the girls in the cafeteria?" He reminded them.

"It'll only take a minute. They won't mind waiting a little." Jeremy replied. Odd's expression didn't change, but he didn't argue against it. He merely glanced back one last time at the cafeteria before following the others.

 **Cafeteria**

Jeremy, Odd, and Ulrich were nowhere in sight. Aelita and I were in line for lunch, and people were acting quite assholish.

"Hey what are you waiting for?" One impatient boy said. I sent him a nasty glare to tell him to shut up. He seemed to get the message. Unlike in the show, Aelita did grab some food.

We slid our trays over to the next area. Aelita looked for a moment to decide whether or not she wanted what was in front of her. Apparently, she took too long in the other kids eyes. "C'mon huh, move it!" Another boy snapped.

I took a deep to try and restrain myself. I'm pretty patient in most situations, but these guys were wearing on my nerves. Aelita decided to move forward without grabbing anything.

We moved up to Rosa. "Well sweetie, franks and beans or steak and potatoes?" Rosa asked.

"Well I uh..." Aelita stuttered.

I narrowed my eyes and looked at the other kids in line. "If one of you says anything, I will give you the food you so desperately want." I hissed and lifted my tray. They all gulped and remained silent. I nodded to Aelita, and she licked steak and potatoes.

We went over to an empty tabled. We'd seen Yumi, but she was with William, and Aelita didn't seem to want to disturb them.

I shook my head as I looked towards the other kids that'd been in line. "I swear, some people are so impatient." I muttered.

"Um, Emily? When you came to this world did..." I motioned for her to continue. "Did you find it hard to... fit in?"

I blinked at hearing this. What was I supposed to say, that it was fine because I knew how everything was going to go down because your life is a cartoon? I thought for a moment, then said, "Well, maybe a little bit. It wasn't the easiest thing in the world for me to accept that I was in another world, or that I wouldn't see my parents, friends, or brothers for awhile."

"I see..." Aelita poked at her food, seeming uninterested in it. I was surlrised when she stood up. "I'm not that hungry." She told me, thdn went to leave.

I quickly followed her. "Aelita, it-"

"So, going back to the great white north?" Sissi asked. There she was, standing with her cronies. I noticed Aelita's fists clench slightly.

"Why not? At least I feel at home there!" Aelita responded, then took off for the forest.

"Aelita, wait!" I growled and turned to Sissi. "Way to go. Leave it to Sissi Dumbass to screw things up." If Sissi responded to that, I didn't stick around to find out what it was. I had to catch up to Aelita.

 **Hermitage**

"Still looks as creepy as ever." Ulrich commented. They were looking inside of the Hermitage from the front door. Odd nodded in agreement to that statment. "What are we looking for?"

"How should I know? If this Franz Hopper guy has anything to do with XANA, maybe we'll find information on Aelita's virus for a start." Jeremy replied. The trio walked intk the house and looked around.

The house was still as dusty as ever.

They walked into what seemed to have a living room of sorts at one time. Several books lined the shelf sitting at the end of the room. "Well?" Ulrich asked. Jeremy looked at some of the books and shrugged.

"Not much. Physics textbooks, Planck, Heisenberg, Froinger... Hey, what's this doing here?" Jeremy pulled what appeared to be a history textbook from off of the shelf.

Ulrich looked at the cover. "'The Tunic Wars'? What's that?"

" _Punic_ , not tunic." Jeremy corrected him. "The war between the Romans and the Carthaginians? We studied it last year. Don't you remember anything?"

"No," Ulrich answered plainly.

"You really are lame in history." Odd said witha smirk. Ulrich gave him a sharp look.

Jeremy opened to a page in the book to find it covered in red pen markings. "You see all these notes? I bet Hopper took them!"

Odd looked down at his watch and cringed. "Hey, lunch is almsot over, we've got class afterwards. We'd better wrap this up."

"Really? Alright, let's head back." Jeremy tucked the Punic Wars book into his bag, then they left the house.

 **Factory**

I've gotta say, Aelita's really fast when she wants to be. I followed her all the way to the lab until I finally caught up to her in the elevator. She gave me a surprised look. It was easy to tell she'd been crying.

"Don't try to stop me," she told me. I raised my hands up.

"Ok, but at least let me go with you. It's not the safest idea for you to go alone," I begged. She looked at me, then finally nodded.

"Ok." She walked out of the elevator when it opened amd began typing on the keyboard. "I've started a delayed virtualization into the Forest Sector."

"You can do that?" I asked, somewhat surprised. She simply nodded, and then we went down to the scanners. The doors almost immediately closed around me, and soon I felt the familiar virtualization feeling.

 **Science Class**

"Quiet please!" Ms. Hertz said as the bell rang. She looked around the room to find two faces missing. "Where are Emily Carroll and Aelita Stones? Jeremy, do you know where they are?"

"Aelita and Emily, huh?" Jeremy looked around the room and was filled with dread when he didn't see either one of the girls in class. "Uh, I'm sorry ma'am, I don't." Both Ulrich and Odd had worried expressions as well.

"Well I do, ma'am! Aelita went back to Canada, and Emily followed her!" Sissi suddenly cut in. The three Lyoko Warriors turned to face her upon hearing that.

"Canada!?" Jeremy exclaimed. He had a bad feeling he knew what that actually meant.

"Yeah, that's what she told me. She even said 'at least I feel at home there'." Sissi said. A sour expression came over her face. "And then Emily went after her after calling me a really nasty name."

Ms. Hertz gave Sissi a stern look "Elizabeth if you continue to disrupt the class, I warn you, I will send you to your fathers office." Ms. Hertz threatened.

Sissi folded her arms at that. "It's Sissi, not Elizabeth! I hate being called Elizabeth!" She whispered in annoyance.

Jeremy then put his hand to his head. "Uh, ma'am? I don't feel very well. Can I go to the infirmary?"

"Of course, Jeremy."

"Can we take him?" Ulrich and Odd asked in unison. They stood up to join him before she could really answer.

Well... oh… oh alright then, but don't dilly dally." Ms. Hertz said. The three of them exited the room.

Jeremy began running almost straight away. "Jeremy, wait! Hey!" Odd exclaimed.

"Where are you going?" Ulrich asked.

"To the factory!" Jeremy answered.

"You think Aelita and Emily are there?" Odd asked. Jeremy stopped and turned towards him.

"Aelita told Sissi that she was going back to Canada. I think she meant, 'I'm going back to the place I came from', which means Lyoko!" Jeremy explained to them. "Emily must've been with her when she said that and tried to stop her, or at least go with her to Lyoko."

Ulrich and Odd looked at one another worriedly, then rushed to join Jeremy to the factory.

 **Lyoko**

We landed in the Forest Sector as expected. I looked around the area. No monsters in sight.

Aelita started walking forward. "Any place in particular you feel like going?" I asked, trailing behind her.

She shook her head. I frowned. "Look... I can't completely understand what you're going through, and I get that, but things are gonna get better." I tried to assure her. "It's not going be this hard to get used to things forever. Like Yumi said, you haven't even been in Kadic for a week." Aelita still didn't respond.

I sighed. She wasn't in a talking kind of mood, and it seemed talking to her did little.

We walked for several minutes in silence. Aelita was then brought out of her thoughts when a scuttling sound could be heard in front of us. I looked up.

A Blok.

I pulled my staff out and pointed it at it. "See, this is why I came with you," I said. I charged up a Magic Blast and fired, but it missed. Then, the Blok surprised me even more by shooting my staff out of my hand. I watched as it flew out of my hand and down to the Digital Sea.

"...Oh crap,"

"Aelita, Emily, can you hear me? Answer me!" Jeremy exclaimed suddenly. Aelita and I took off running in the opposite direction.

"Jeremy, help!" Aelita called.

"Don't worry, the others are on their way!" Jeremy said. We continued running until another Blok appeared in front of us.

"Einstein, we're surrounded, and my staff is gone!" I exclaimed I looked around, then pointed to our leet. "There's a platform there. We can- augh!" I felt my body freeze. One of the Bloks had shot me with their gel.

Even through my distorted vision I could see Aelita leap across the gap. She just barely made it. She pulled herself up as the Bloks shot at her. She started running away from them again.

"Emily, you're out for three minutes!" I heard Jeremy tell me. "The others will be there soon. Hang tight."

 **Elsewhere**

Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi were running across the path in hopes of catching up with Aelita and Emily. Odd looked over at Ulrich.

"Go ahead, Ulrich! With your speed, you'll make it in no time!" He suggested.

Ulrich nodded. "You're right."

"Too late." Yumi interrupted. The boys stopped and looked back at her. "Krab" She pointed to the shellfish that was now approaching them from behind.

"There's another one behind you!" Jeremy warned them. Ulrich glance back to find themselves surrounded.

"Ok, battle stations." Ulrich said as he unsheathed his blade. Odd readied his arrows, and Yumi pulled her fans out.

"Aelita's bought herself some time, but Emily's frozen solid. Hurry!" Jeremy urged in a worried voice.

"You're move, Odd." Ulrich told him. Odd crouched down on all fours and smirked.

"I love this." He took off to avoid a laser and made his way to a tree. Using his claws, he began climbing the tree, jumping occasionally to dodge laser fire. He jumped from the three he was on to another one.

Meanwhile, Ulrich and Yumi were focused on the other Krab. As Yumi pulled one of her fans out, Ulrich ran by the Krab and sliced off two of its legs. It fell down, making it an easy target for when the fan was sent flying.

Odd maneuvered himself around the trees he was on, hopping from one to the other. When he finally felt he was high enough, he jumped off the tree and let out, "Laser Arrow!" His arrows hit directly and destroyed the Krab.

"Great job guys, but but hurry it up! The Bloks are catching up to Aelita!" Jeremy informed them. Odd smirked at this.

"What are you waiting for? Call us a taxi!" He said lightly.

"It's on the way! And don't forget to grab Emily. She should be unfreezing in a minute." Jeremy said. Seconds later, the Overbike, Overboard, and Overwing all appeared in front of them, and they were off. "Here we go!"

 **1st Person POV**

I finally felt the ice shatter around my body. I had to left out a breath of relief, as those three minutes felt like an eternity. I could hear familiar engine sounds behind me, and glad to see Ulrich, Odd, an Yumi all zooming across the sector. Yumi slowed down a bit for me, allowing my to hop aboard.

"Still need a new staff, Einstein." I reminded him.

"Right, gimme a sec." I could hear him typing again, then a new staff appeared. It was clipped to my side like nothing had ever happened.

Seconds later, we found the extreme edge of the sector, and Aelita was nowhere in sight. Odd hopped off his board and looked around curiously,

"What? She's already gone? She must really be mad at us." Odd joked. I had to roll my eyes at it. Jeremy was completely unamused by the joke, and with good reason.

"This is no time for jokes, Odd! I've lost Aelita from my screens!" Jeremy exclaimed. Our eyes all widened at the revelation.

Yumi let out a gasp. "You mean she's..." She couldn't finish the thought. We all knew what she meant anyways.

"No!I-I doubt it. I think she's just... disappeared from the screens, as if..." Jeremy paused. "What's going on!?"

"What's making you say that. Jeremy?" I asked. I felt myself grip my sleeves tightly. Even though I knew Aelita was safe, it was still completely different to experience the thing in person.

"Got it! I got a signal! A very weak one, but- hey, that's strange." Jeremy interrupted himself. "Aelita's not in this sector anymore. She's not in any sector, actually!"

Ulrich gave a lost look. "Wait, can you explain that a little better?" He requested, moving his hands to try and tell Jeremy to slow down. Odd and Yumi had similarly confused expressions.

"No, not really." Jeremy answered apologetically. "Let's just say she's in a sector that doesn't exist." I rubbed the back of my head in bewilderment.

"You mean like a fifth sector?" I asked, trying to make sense of it all.

"Yeah, something like that." Jeremy replied after a small bit of silence.

"Wait, a fifth sector? Have you gone bananas or what?" Odd asked accusingly.

"No! If it could just _fix_ this thing maybe I- huh?!" Jeremy suddenly let out. "'Welcome to Carthage'?" We heard him read out.

"Wait, Carthage? You mean the Punic Wars?" I inquired. Odd sent an amused look towards Ulrich, who merely scoffed in return. I decided I would ask later, when things were less dire.

"Is this gonna take long, Jeremy?" Yumi asked.

"I hope not." Jeremy answered honestly. I turned when I heard a familiar flapping sound that was a staple to Hornets. A group of the damn pests was approaching us rapidly.

"Uh oh, now things are really starting to buzz." Odd joked as he jumped onto his Overboard. I saw the Overkart materialize in front of me, which I was sure to thank Jeremy for. We all took off into the air with our weapons ready. Odd killed one almost immediately, then Yumi followed by throwing her fan at a group of three surrounding her.

Ulrich and I both went back down onto the ground. Ulrich quickly pulled his saber out, then jumped into the air using his Super Sprint ability. He did a neat trick involving him doing several front flips with his sword. He sped ahead of me after he killed the Hornet. I saw a small group directly above me. Smirking, I grabbed me staff, pointed it above me, and shouted, "Thunderbolt!" The three died instantly. Smirking, I sped ahead as well.

"Jeremy, what are we doing?" Ulrich asked him.

"Wait, I've got a little problem."

"It's not biggie, as long as it's not a biggie!" I heard Odd shout as he fired some more arrows.

"Odd, that makes ZERO sense." I informed him. "What's the problem, Jeremy?"

"I need a password! Something to do with Carthage, I think." Jeremy explained.

"This is no time for a history lesson!" Ulrich berated hims. He blocked a few blasts with his sword.

"Wait, a history lesson? That's EXACTLY what I need!" I heard Jeremy exclaim. Odd looked over at me with a pleading look.

"Emily, help him out. You're a history whiz!" Odd said. I shook my head.

"I haven't studied Carthage since 6th grade. I'm afraid I'd be only a little help." I said. I suddenly gasped when I was forced to hit the brakes to avoid getting hit. Another small squadron of Hornets was in front of me. i did a quick turn and started doing back the way I came.

"Hiyah!" I heard Yumi cry as she sent one of her fans out. They managed to hit two of the Hornets chasing me. I nodded my thanks to her, then pointed my staff at the remaining ones. "Magic Blast!' While I did hit them, they managed to destroy my kart. I fell forward and joined Ulrich, who was deflecting some laser blasts. "Cloak Guard!" I blocked one of the blasts for us both.

"Hey, Jeremy! Any day now!" Ulrich shouted in annoyance. I bit my lip. I couldn't just place the idea in his head now, could I?

"Whenever you're ready Einstein!" Odd shouted. He fired a few more arrows, but was knocked off of his board and landed with us. Yumi's Overwing was destroyed as well. She looked towards the sky with an impatient look.

"Jeremy, we're not gonna last much longer!" She told him.

"I'm sure I'm gonna get it!' Jeremy tried to assure us. None of us were believing hims at that point.

We looked up to find even more Hornets had arrived. "Of course." I muttered under my breath. The four of us backed up to each other until we were back to back. Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore. "Jeremy, have you tried who defeated the Carthaginians? Scipio?"

"Scipio? Let me try it!" Jeremy said. "S-C-I-P-I-O.' He spelled it out as he typed. I could hear a click from one of his keys.

Soon the Hornets were flying away. "Hey, the Hornets are calling it quits!" Yumi noticed.

Odd gave them a dirty glare. "Hey, come back you cowards!"

I elbowed him harshly. "Shut it. The last thing we need are for them to come back with reinforcements. You really feel like dealing with Tarantulas on our assess?" Then, we heard a strange noise behind us. A large white ball with the eye of XANA had appeared behind us.

"What's that ball doing there?" Ulrich asked skeptically.

"I think the codeword 'Scipio' made it appear." Jeremy deduced. The ball soon came over us all, making us gasp. It enveloped us all inside of it.

 **Sector 5**

The feeling of the Transporter was... weird, to say the least. I felt like I could't move at all, or that I even had a physical body anymore. Maybe that's what it feels like to become data?

The Transporter also moved very quickly. Now I understand why Odd would feel sick.

The Transporter then dropped us off in the entry chamber. We were all disoriented and trying our best to keep our balance. "Whoa, head rush." I said, somewhat dazed. Odd fell forward onto all fours. He seemed to take it the worst of us all.

"How did you do that, Jeremy?" Ulrich asked.

"Thank Emily. I wasn't getting very far with Hopper's notes." Jeremy thanked me. i rubbed the back of my head and let out a sheepish laugh.

"That was one ofthe few things I remembered." I admitted. " _Mostly because of this show, but let's not mention that part._ "

"Welcome to Sector 5 everyone." Jeremy said, seeming somewhat awed at the discovery.

"What does it look like?" Yumi asked.

"A sphere that-" Jeremy stopped and we could hear him gulp. "Uh, it's probably bad news."

"What's up?" i asked.

"I think Aelita is being attacked and time is almost up!" Jeremy exclaimed in a panic.

"Can you guide us?" Yumi requested.

"Take the footbridge behind you! Hurry up; this is no time for sightseeing!" Jeremy ordered. We ran out of the room and into the main hall. It was made entirely of a blue, metal like material.

"Ulrich, go on ahead! We'll catch up to you!" I urged him.

"Super Sprint!" Ulrich took off, leaving a yellow trail behind him. He stopped at the edge of the hall stared at the sight.

A giant jellyfish monster had Aelita in its grasp, and it appeared to be draining something from her. "Uh, Jeremy? There's this... thing, in here." Ulrich said somewhat vaguely.

"Destroy it! That thing is taking away Aelita's memories!" Jeremy exclaimed. we sprang into action. Using her fans, Yumi cut the monsters tentacles, freeing Aelita from its grasp. It let out a strange noise. Ulrich then ran forward and sliced one of the other brown, snake like monster s in he room. He caught Aelita as she fell.

"Laser Arrow!"

"Magic Blast!" Odd and I both fired at one of the brown monsters in the room. They let out horrifying screeches as they fell to the ground and exploded. Odd fired another arrow as another monster approached from behind. At least they were easy enough to kill.

We then gasped as the architecture of the room began to shift. The blocks underneath our feet started moving upwards "Get out of there!" Jeremy shouted.

"Got it!" I saw Odd still trying to kill monsters.

"Odd, beat it!" Jeremy and I chorused, He got the message as the platform he was on began to ascend.

The hall was closing behind us as we ran. Odd was the last one out, and he just barely avoided getting his tail squashed by the wall. I slid to my knees when it was finally over. "Jesus..." I breathed out.

"Now what?" Ulrich asked, out of breath.

"Wait, I'm reentering the code. Scipio." Jeremy informed us. Odd looked over at Aelita with a smile.

"We've got your ticket out of here, Aelita." He rushed over to us to join us inside the Transporter.

 **Forest Sector**

We were dropped off in front of a deactivated tower. I looked at it in relief.

"And there ya go! I'm bringing you in right now! Aelita, all you have to do is get inside the tower and I'll rematerialize you." Aelita quickly ran inside of the tower. "Materialization, Yumi. Materialization, Odd. Materialization, Ulrich. Materialization, Emily." I felt my body devirtualize, and I found myself back inside of a scanner.

Aelita stepped out soon again as well. When she noticed the others looking at her, she looked down nervously. Yumi merely smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "You gave us a real scare there."

"Glad you're safe, Princess." Odd said with a nod. I smiled.

 **Jeremy's Dorm**

"You should've seen it, Jeremy! There were all these creepy things, and in the middle, there was this kind of huge jellyfish holding Aelia!" Odd recounted. Kiwi, who was sitting in Odd's lap, growled when he heard the jellyfish mentioned.

"Can you imagine that thing was stealing my memory." Aelita said, putting her fingers to her temples.

"Yeah. One thing's sure: XANA wants to get something out of you." Jeremy noted.

"The real question is what that would be." I finished. Jeremy nodded.

"I can't wait to go back to the fifth sector. There's so much to explore there." Ulrich said excitedly.

"I'll go with you. It'll be totally awesome" Yumi said.

"Ditto." I agreed. Jeremy waved his hands to wrangle out attentions back.

"Whoa, not so fast! I have to study it first. For now, it's uncharted territory, which means it could be totally dangerous." Jeremy decided. We were slightly disappointed by that, but understood his reasoning. No sense in putting ourselves in needless danger.

"Um, you aren't angry at me for going to Lyoko by myself, or at least, trying to, are you?" Aelita asked, glancing at me for a moment. "I-I don't know what go into me. I just needed to-"

"You don't have to explain, Aelita." Jeremy said with an understanding smile. "We understand what happened, and we're not angry at all." Jeremy said. She looked around at all of us. Not a single upset expression was on our faces. "And I promise to spend more time with you." She smiled upon hearing his promise. "And thank you, Emily, for going after her. I know it didn't do much good in the end, but still."

I gave him a thumbs up. "I'd be a pretty crappy friend if I didn't at least try."

"And if you want, I'll teach you plenty of ways to tell Sissi t go to-"

"Odd." Sissi's voice cut in suddenly. Speak of the devil and she shall appear. She was glaring at him with her arms crossed. "Do you know what your filthy mutt did in the showers?" Kiwi growled at her.

"Hey, would you look at that, he doesn't like jellyfish or Sissi. They are pretty similar I guess. Neither have brains." I whispered to Yumi. Yumi covered her mouth to keep herself from laugh.

Sissi then noticed Aelita sitting on Jeremy's bed. "Oh, what a pretty picture, So you finally found Mrs. Einstein." I heard Odd growl. Aelia seemed like she just decided to take the name as a compliment.

" _A good first step to annoy people: thanking them for their insult._ " I thought. I can't tell you how many times I've thrown people off by telling them thank you when they call me a nerd.

"Yeah, while you were taking your THIRD shower of the day!" Ulrich said accusingly. Sissi flipped her hair at the remark.

"Well you know, Ulrich dear, a beautiful flower like me needs to be watered often." She replied.

"You-" Odd started, but Aelita beat him to the punch.

"Yes, you never know! You might just sprout a brain!" Aelita said casually. We all gave her a shocked expression, then began laughing. I fell onto my back as I clutched my ribs from laughter.

Sissi looked at us all and rolled her eyes. "Morons." She walked away from the door.

I wiped a few tears from my eyes. "Oh man, that was GREAT, Aelita." I complimented.

"Heh, I think you could give Odd lessons, Aelita." Ulrich remarked. Odd put his arm around her and smiled.

"You sure learn fast." Yumi said.

I grinned. "And she'll learn more from one of the best." I exclaimed, standing up, pointing at myself with my thumbs.

Ulrich gave me a look of horror. "Don't you dare start with the puns!" Ulrich threatened.

"What, are you afraid of the PUN-ishment, Ulrich?" I asked, then laughed. Ulrich covered his ears and groaned. "In pun-fell swoop, I strike! Pun for here, and pun for the road!"

"Emily, please stop." Jeremy requested. Yumi, Odd, and Aelita seemed to enjoy it at varying levels of amusement.

"Oh, that one not punny enough for you?" I said. Jeremy rolled his eyes.

Ulrich glared at me. "You have three seconds." Ulrich threatened.

"You wouldn't make good on that." I accused. His expression didn't falter as he stepped forward. I ran out of the room and could hear the others laugh.

* * *

 **All the bad puns! Poor Ulrich, probably hates me for it.**

 **And yes, my favorite Aelita quote is "Yes, you never know. You might just sprout a brain." 8 year old me heard that and was like "Ok, you're my favorite now."**

 **Also... I have a somewhat strange question for you guys.**

 **What's your opinion on the original Teen Titans cartoon? Not Teen Titans Go, I mean the original one from 03.**

 **I've had a small project in mind for the past I dunno, couple years at this point, but I'm not sure I want to go through with it yet. I'm not going to announce exactly WHAT it is, because it's still gone over revisions of the basic idea, and I don't want to get anyone's hopes up too much. Just let me know if you'd read something Teen Titans related if I made something, and I'll get back to you guys on what exactly it would be.**

 **Next time, Exploration!**


	3. Exploration

**Wow! So many reviews already! Glad to see you guys like this story!**

 **And uh, sorry about the wait. Life is always hectic in April. Band contests, EOI testing, reviewing for finals. All the fun stuff... Well, band contests ARE fun, but that's aside the point.**

 **Ah, Exploration. Not quite as good as the last two were, but still awesome! Also contains my favorite quote from Odd. See if you can figure out what it is by the end of the chapter.**

 **Thanks for the opinions on my question as well. I promise to tell you guys what exactly I'm planning when things get more fin** **alized** **on it. No sense in announcing what it is only to abandon it before it starts. I get the feeling you'll all like it.**

* * *

Chapter 3: Exploration

Another day, another trip to Lyoko. Ulrich, Odd, and I were all in the lab while Yumi and Aelita made their way to the tower. It'd been a rough day in the Ice Sector. Odd had taken too many hits to fast, forcing Ulrich to try and fill the hole he'd left with his Triplicate ability. That had worked for a bit, then he was devirtualized by a Tarantula. I'd been taken out whilst destroying said Tarantula.

"Aelita, hurry! Yumi's only got 10 life points left!" Jeremy said into his mic. Moments later, I could see him relax a bit. "Ok, get ready girls. I'm starting the devirtualization process." He typed at his usual lightning quick speed on the keyboard.

Ulrich folded his arms as he looked at the screen. "Activated towers, Lyoko battles, danger. Aren't you guys starting to get sick of all this?" He asked. We all glanced at him.

"No," Odd, Jeremy, and I said in unison. Ulrich frowned.

"Well sometimes I really wish we were done with XANA," Ulrich stated. The elevator door began to open behind us.

Odd looked back at him with a slightly strange look. "Uh, you missed a chapter, Ulrich. Aelita is carrying a miserable virus that links her to XANA. Bye-bye XANA means bye-bye Aelita!" Odd reminded the brunette. Ulrich said nothing in response. Both Aelita and Yumi walked out if the elevator and joined us in the lab.

Jeremy looked over his shoulder at us as he removed his earpiece. "And I don't know how to create an antivirus. At least, not yet," he added.

"Hey, I have an idea," Aelita began. "Why don't we explore the new mysterious sector we discovered?"

Jeremy turned his chair to face all of us. "Sector 5!? But we don't know what's in it!" Jeremy protested.

"Yeah we do. The new 'Creepers' as Odd likes to call them, dangerous traps, and that Scyphozoa thing that wants to get Aelita's memory." I listed off. Aelita nodded, not denying the danger involved.

"You're right, but what if there's something else there?" Aelita threw out. I folded my arms and thought about it. "Like information about XANA. We have to go back."

"Good idea. All four of us will go." Ulrich said with a nod. Aelita made a face at him.

"You mean all five of us. I want to be a part of this expedition too." Aelita protested. Jeremy was quick to disagree.

"With that Scyphozoa slinking around? No way!" Jeremy said as he stood up.

"What if there's a tower to deactivate? Think about it, I have to be there!" Aelita argued, pointing at herself. Odd grinned and put a hand in her shoulder. She looked back at him.

"Come on, Einstein. With body guards like us she has nothing to worry about." Odd said, retracting his hand. Aelita smiled gratefully for his defense. "And I promise to be careful."

"Hey, the best way to learn about Sector 5 would be to experience it firsthand. And Aelita has just as much a righg to that info as we do," I added. Jeremy looked down in contemplation.

Finally, he looked up at us and caved. "Ok. Tomorrow night, exploration." Jeremy announced. We all let out a cheer.

We then all entered the elevator and made our way back up to the bridge. Yumi looked at the time and gasped. "Oh my gosh, It's so late! My parents must be going bananas! Bye, see you tomorrow!" Yumi waved as she took off.

"As for us, we missed dinner again," Odd said, checking his phone. "And I think it was spaghetti and meatballs!" He whined.

I frowned, partially due to that, and also at a thought I had. "These missions keep getting later and later." I noted. Ulrich pulled back the grate.

"I know. And it means we keep missing dinner!" Odd said angrily.

"Of course your first thought on that is food." I said, rolling my eyes.

"XANA's also been pretty active lately." Ulrich pointed. "It's really annoying, actually."

"He's not gonna ease up until the day we finally can shut him down. I'm just concerned that his attacks keep getting worse." I said. I looked over at Jeremy as we rode in the sewers. "Any ideas on how he's getting stronger?"

The blond genius shook his head. "No. I don't know how at this point, but I'm doing my best to find out." Jeremy answered. We slowed down as we reached the ladder back to Kadic.

"I'm sure you'll find out soon." Aelita encouraged him. Jeremy let out a hum in acknowledgment. We made our way to the dorm building in no time at all. Aelita and I waved at the boys as they turned to their floor.

"Anyways, see you guys tomorrow," I said.

"Night," They all chorused. Aelita and I continued on our way to our dorm. The rest of the night ended up being rather uneventful.

 **Next Day**

Aelita and I approached Jeremy, Ulrich, and Odd at the vending machines. Ulrich was sipping his hot chocolate when he saw us.

"Morning," I greeted them.

Yumi then walked up to us with both a sad and sour expression on her face. She fumbled to pull a coin from her pocket. It slipped out of her hand. Ulrich managed to catch it before it hit the ground. "What's up with you?" He asked as nicely as he could. He handed the coin back to her.

She let out a sigh as she slipped the coin into the drink machine. "My parents caught me sneaking back in last night." She informed us.

I winced. "Oh, I can imagine how that went. One of my brothers seemed to always get caught whenever he snuck out and always got an earful for it." I sympathized.

"Yeah, well now they won't let me out of their sight. They walked with me to school today, and my dad's going to be here to pick me up." Yumi explained. "They're not gonna ease up on me, oh what a mess. The worst part is I hate lying to them." Yumi said, putting emphasis on the word hate. She pressed one of the buttons on the machine.

Odd shrugged. "Just explain to them that we're fighting in a virtual universe against a demonic artificial intelligence. That oughta reassure them." He said.

"Dork," Yumi said, looking back at him. A cup fell from the machine and hot chocolate began to pour from the top.

"You've got to win back their trust in you. I think maybe you should stay away from Lyoko for a little while." Jeremy suggested. Yumi looked back at us with a shocked expression.

"Huh!? But what about exploring Sector 5? It's for tonight, isn't it?" She said. There was a hurt expression on her face. Not that I could blame her. It wasn't everyday we were able to explore new realms of the virtual world.

"Don't worry. Jeremy will give you a play by play update." Ulrich said, looking towards the blond.

"Promise." Jeremy said. Yumi's expression didn't change. She looked down at her drink wearily.

Suddenly, the bell rang. I stretched my arms as I pushed myself off the wall I was leaning on. "Alright guys, let's get to class. I know Odd is dying to see Ms. Hertz." I joked.

"Did you study for the marine biology test?" Jeremy asked Odd. Odd nodded with a grin.

"Of course I did, listen: Fish are remarkably well adapted to water. What's more, they can swim." He said.

"You are so lame." Jeremy told him. The rest of sans Yumi laughed. I glanced at the Japanese girl one last time before following the others to class. She tossed her drink into the trash, then made her way to her class. Her head was down the entire time.

 **That Night**

Classes had been boring and long as ever, but soon enough, it was time. We'd made our way to the factory in no time at all. Ulrich, Odd, Aelita, and I were all waiting outside of the scanner.

"Off to the Forest Sector." Jeremy announced from the lab. Ulrich and Odd each got into a scanner. "Transfer, Ulrich. Transfer, Odd. Scanner, Ulrich. Scanner, Odd. VIRTUALIZATION!" Aelita and I then entered the scanners as they opened. "Transfer, Aelita. Transfer, Emily. Scanner, Aelita. Scanner, Emily. VIRTUALIZATION!"

 **Lyoko**

Aelita and I landed next to the boys. Ulrich, Odd, and myself all looked around the area cautiously. You could never be too careful with our old buddy XANA after all.

"Everything ok?" Jeremy asked, noticing our silence.

"Yeah. Everything's clear for the moment." I reported to him.

"The monsters must be sleeping. They need all the sleep they can get to recover from all the grief we've been giving them." Odd added.

"You have to get to the other end of the sector to take the Transporter. I'm gonna materialize your rides." Jeremy explained to us. The Overkart, Overbike, and Overboard all appeared in front of us. I hopped in my Overkart.

Odd looked back at Aelita excitedly as she seemed to be about to ride with Ulrich. "C'mon, Aelita! Ride with me, it'll be a blast. And I did promise to be careful." Odd asked. She gave him a hesitant look. "Aw, please?" Odd begged.

"Alright." She hopped on behind the catboy and grabbed hold of his waist. Ulrich and I could hear her yelp in surprise when Odd suddenly took off. He liked to fly fast and dangerously, which was not something that boded well. I knew he wasn't stupid enough to take tons of risks with Aelita in tow, but he did have a habit of showing off to try and surpass Ulrich and I. Well, mostly Ulrich really.

"Idiot..." I heard Ulrich mutter under his breath. I chuckled a bit, then sped off after them. Ulrich followed. The trek was mostly filled only with the sounds of our engines roaring, alongside the occasional noise of surprise from Aelita when Odd did something unexpected. And that happened a lot.

I had to glare when Odd suddenly flew by in front of me. "Odd! You promised to be careful!" I reminded him. He flew back down beside Ulrich and I to give us a thumbs up.

"No problem!" He exclaimed, then nearly hit Ulrich in the head with his board. Ulrich and I looked at each other and shook our heads.

"Go straight ahead and hurry up before the monsters get there." Jeremy advised. Seconds later, we were at the extreme edge of the sector. Odd brought the board down to allow Aelita and him to get off while Ulrich and I slowed down.

"We made it, Jeremy." Aelita reported to him.

"Ok, I'm entering the code: Scipio." Jeremy said. The white ball from before suddenly descended from the sky.

"And here's the taxi." I said. We were all still somewhat awed by the thing. It grabbed all of us, and we were off to the newest sector.

 **Sector 5**

We were dropped off in the entry chamber again, just like the time before. Aelita, Ulrich, and I all seemed relatively unfazed by the ball letting us go this time. I didn't feel nearly as dizzy as before. Odd, however, had fallen over again.

"Happy campers?" Jeremy asked.

"Yep. I'm beginning to get used to these little trips." Ulrich replied. I nodded my head at that.

"Yeah, this isn't nearly as bad as last time." I agreed.

"Ugh, not me. I shouldn't have had that fifth dessert at lunch." Odd groaned, holding his stomach. I raised an eyebrow at that.

"Really? The trip to Sector 5 is what tells you that and not common sense?" I asked, somewhat amused.

"It's Odd; he listens to his stomach before his brain." Ulrich joked, making the two of us snicker. Aelita looked around at the wall spinning around us.

"Jeremy, the wall is about to open." She said.

"Right, meaning the countdown is gonna start." Jeremy said. I nodded.

"There's gotta be a way to deactivate it, and that's gotta be the key to exploring further into here." I thought aloud.

"That sounds plausible." Jeremy agreed.

I turned towards the others. "Alright then. If you guys see anything that may stop that timer, let us know." They all nodded at me. We looked forward. The wall was finally slowing down, allowing us to finally begin the exploration of Sector 5.

"Watch it guys." Jeremy warned us as we took off.

Ulrich smirked. "Everything'll be fine. Odd promised to be careful." He said.

"It's started! You know what'll happen if Aelita loses all of her life points don't you?" Jeremy redminded us worriedly. I could hear his chair squeak slightly as he gripped the chair's arm.

"No worries, Jeremy! We've no intention of losing her." I reassured him. I gave the pink elf a thumbs up. We stopped in front of the wall. Unlike last time, it opened as a staircase rather than a wide hallway. "Well, this is different." I noted. I began leaping down the stairs to keep up with Ulrich, who was running ahead of us.

"Last time, there was a big room at the end of this hallway." Aelita recalled. Soon, the end of the hall was in sight, and it indeed opened into a new room. But it looked different than last time. The placement of all the metal blocks was completely different.

"This is different too. What the hell?" I asked in confusion.

"I get the feeling the architecture of the core zone changes each time you go there." Jeremy theorized. We paused for a moment to look around the massive room.

"That's a great help for finding our way around." Odd remarked sarcastically.

"If we knew everything, we wouldn't be exploring." Ulrich reminded him.

"I'm more annoyed by the fact that that implies that there'll be a new gimmick every time we come here." I half groaned.

"C'mon, let's go!" Ulrich then urged, running ahead with his Super Sprint. We all took off after him. The sound of hitting metal emanated around us as we ran across the room. Soon, a horrible groaning sound sounded off from behind us.

"Careful, you've got three Creepers on your tail." Jeremy informed us. Odd and I looked back as we ran. As I turned the corner to follow Ulrich and Aelita, I heard Odd fire an arrow. He missed though, and the Creepers still followed. "You've only got three minutes left to stop the countdown. Get going!"

We found ourselves in another large room. There were four large corridors on each side of the room. Ulrich looked around, then pointed left and shouted, "That way!" and took off again. We ran by one of the corridors, though Ulrich then stopped and went back to it. "Come on!" He led us through it. It led to a bridge, that itself was leading to another open passage.

At the end was another room looking very similar to the previous one. "Haven't we already been here?" I asked in confusion.

"How should I know? Everything looks the same in this place!" Odd pointed out. We started running again. This time it was Aelita that stopped and looked towards a corridor. We stopped to look at her.

"This way." She decided. We nodded. Aelita made the unfortunate mistake of running ahead of us though, and was met with a laser to the chest. Her torso became completely encased in electricity. I ran forward and fired a Magic Blast that ended up missing.

It fired a laser at me. "Cloak Guard!" I exclaimed, covering myself. The laser completely shattered my barrier and cost me 10 life points. I stood back when my arm became covered in the blue electricity. Ulrich pulled Aelita away from the hall as Odd took my place to kill the Creeper.

"40 life points in one go! Those Creepers sure are powerful!" Jeremy observed.

The monster exploded after getting a few Laser Arrows to the face. "They're powerful, and really ugly too!" Odd said in his usual joking voice.

"We're not making much headway like this." I realized, and looked towards Ulrich.

"Jeremy, any ideas?" He asked.

"No, but I've got news for you. You're in a labyrinth. Make a left at each fork and leave mark there. If the way is already marked, then make a right." Jeremy ordered us. Ulrich unsheathed his blade and began to run forward with it out.

"This is incredible! We'll never get out of this thing!" Odd exclaimed.

I shook my head. "We've got to, Odd."

"Yeah, especially because you only have two minutes to find a way to stop the countdown." Jeremy told us. Ulrich slashed the wall as we ran by, leaving a noticeable nick in it.

Evidently, the plan wasn't entirely needed. The next passage we ran down finally led us to a different room. It was a long hallways with another doorway at the end of it. "We're out, Jeremy. We made it!" Aelita reported.

Odd rolled his shoulder confidently and looked up. "Nothing like having a little luck on your side. Hey Einstein, why complicate things?" He said arrogantly. I rolled my eyes.

"Careful, Odd. Comments like that will come back to bite you in the tail." I remarked, lightly pulling his purple tail. Odd let out a yelp and pulled it from my grasp. He gave me a glare.

"Not funny." He retorted. We took off for the doorway.

Only there was nothing there. "Whoa!" I exclaimed, nearly falling into the empty abyss below. Ulrich grabbed me by my collar and pulled me back. I nodded my thanks to him, then looked around the room.

"Aw great. Now what do we do?" Ulrich asked in a sarcastic and annoyed tone.

"Can you see anything from your end?" Odd then asked Jeremy.

"Oh, so you need me again, huh?" Jeremy asked with a slight smugness. It quickly faded as he went back to helping us out. "Go back to where you were. I've spotted a mechanism on the wall. Hurry! Time's running out!"

"Aye-aye, Captain!" I shouted as we turned. We made our way back into the previous room. Looking around, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Metal blocks everywhere.

"There!" Aelita suddenly exclaimed, pointing to the wall on our left. It was high up above us. Much to high for me, Ulrich, or Aelita to reach.

Odd on the other hand...

"Let me at it!" Odd cried, running to the wall. Using his claws, he was easily able to scale up the wall. He pulled himself up onto another block.

"14, 13, 12," Jeremy began to count. Odd looked up at the trigger right as he was underneath it. "11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4," Odd launched himself into the air, hand ready to press the mechanism, but XANA had other plans. From seemingly out of nowhere, Odd was shot by a Creeper. His body burst into pixels as Jeremy finished counting down.

"NO!" Ulrich yelled. Then another Creeper approached and shot Ulrich multiple times before he could react. He too was devirtualized with a cry of pain

"Ulrich!" Aelita and I shouted. Glaring, I wasted no time. I pulled Aelita behind me with my staff at the ready. The Creeper let out another horrid cry. "Come at me, I dare you!" It took that challenge and fired at me. I fell to one of my knees as my torso was encased in the familiar blue electricity.

"Aelita, Emily, the countdown is over; the room is bound to change now." Jeremy told us. Aelita and I back up as the Creeper slid forward. Then, it stopped. Looking around us, several blocks that had once made up the floor were now rising to enclose us as walls. The Creeper slithered away as what would've been a door closed. "are you two ok?"

We looked at each other. "Well, no more Creepers." Aelita said, trying to be positive.

"Yeah, that's a start." I muttered bitterly.

"Don't worry. I'll rematerialize Odd and Ulrich and I'll get you two out of there." Jeremy reported to us. Minutes went by before Jeremy came back on. "Odd and Ulrich didn't come back!" Jeremy exclaimed frantically.

My head shot up in surprise and horror. "Wait, what!?"

"That's impossible!" Aelita's face fell into dismay. "Are they lost?"

"For the moment they are. And that's probably what'll happen to you to, Emily, should you get devirtuaulized." Jeremy said. I clenched my fists tightly.

"XANA, you're a bastard, you damn virus!" I shouted, then hit my fist against the wall.

"So there's no rematerialization from Sector 5..." Aelita realized in horror.

"S-sure there is! Once we find the right program." Jeremy tried to assure us. I held my sleeves tightly. Again, it was completely different to experience the situation firsthand.

"And do you think you can find it?" Aelita asked.

Jeremy let out a sigh in frustration. "It's probably as easy as finding your antivirus." He admitted to us. "But don't worry. I'm gonna do the impossible!"

I growled in frustration. "What do we do now? Aelita and I are stuck here, and XANA's bound to send us Squidward soon,"

"Squidward?" Aelita asked, thrown off.

"Er, I mean the Scyphozoa. Sorry," I said, rubbing the back of my neck awkwardly. " _To be fair, it's probably actually a jellyfish. Meh, Squidward's a better name anyway."_

Jeremy let out a hum. "Well, there's only one thing left that I can do. I'll call Yumi," he decided.

I looked at the walls with a solemn expression. "C'mon, Yumi. We really need your help,"

 **Ishiyama House**

A beeping sound emanated from the living room in Yumi's home. Yumi looked over, distracted from the game of Go she had been playing, to see her younger brother mashing buttons on his Gameboy.

She put her fingers to her temple in annoyance. "Hiroki," she began, annoyed, "could you make some _more_ noise, please?"

"Sorry, Yumi, the volume's as high as it'll go," Hiroki replied, ignoring her sarcasm.

"Hiroki..." Their father began. Upon hearing this, Hiroki stood up and began walking towards another room, not bothering to look up from his game.

"Go into the other room Hiroki. Go on now." Their mother said.

Yumi looked down at her phone when it began to vibrate. She pressed a button on it, then looked up.

"I pass," her dad said.

"Me too, I pass," Yumi said.

"Then the game is over! I have five points more than you!" Yumi's dad exclaimed

"On the go bon, yes. Don't forget I played the whites. With komi, I win by half a point." Yumi reminded him. Her fathers face fell.

"Oh."

Yumi then stretched as she let out a fake yawn. "Well, it's bedtime. Good night,"

"Good night, my dear," her mother said as she exited the room. When the door was closed, Yumi answered the call.

"Jeremy, how are things going?" She asked in a whisper.

"Badly! Head for the factory!" Jeremy said, panicked. Yumi didn't need to hear any more and went straight to her room. She opened the window, intent on sliding down from there.

Before that, she quickly put one of her stuffed toys in her bed to make it appear she was sleeping. With that done, she leapt out the window.

 **Sector 5**

A very unwanted sound rang out near the two of us. The Scyphozoa was near.

"Jeremy, can you hear that?" Aelita asked. Fear was plastered all over her face. I gripped my staff tightly.

"It's the Scyphozoa! It's heading towards you! Stay calm. Yumi's coming." Jeremy tried to assure us.

"Tell her to hurry it up!" I urged. I looked back at Aelita. She was backed against the furthest wall.

 **With Yumi**

Yumi swung down into the factory and ran into the elevator.

"Jeremy, I'm in the elevator," she reported to the blond.

"You have to get to Aelita and Emily in Sector 5. The Scyphozoa is there, and Emily doesn't have many life points left!" Jeremy quickly explained.

"What about Odd and Ulrich?"

"Want the best case scenario?"

"I'd rather," Yumi said. She gripped her mobile tighty.

"I've got about a one in a million chance of finding the right code to bring them back," Jeremy admitted. Yumi bit her lip upon hearing that news. She dashed for the scanner as soon as the elevator opened. "Transfer, Yumi. Scanner, Yumi. VIRTUALIZATION!"

The Japanese girl landed in the Mountain Sector next to the Overwing. Not wasting a second, she hopped aboard it and took off at max speed to the extreme edge of the sector.

"You're at the edge of the territory, Yumi; better be careful. XANA's gonna do all he can to keep you from taking the transporter." Jeremy warned her.

Almost on cue, two Kankrelats fired at her from behind, destroying her vehicle. She was so close, she had to make it! She started running forward.

"Jeremy! Enter... The code!" She cried. She could see the transporter begin to fall from the sky. She flipped over to it, then let out a gasp.

"Yumi!?"

 **Sector 5, 3rd Person POV**

"Yumi, can you hear me?" Jeremy asked, concerned. Seconds went by before he heard a response.

"Yes, I'm in the arena. The transporter got to me just in time. Horrible Kankrelat." Yumi replied while clenching her fist. She looked forward as the wall began to open.

"Listen up now: you have to get to the corridor and trigger the mechanism before the countdown runs out, ok?" Jeremy explained as Yumi ran forward. The hall opened before her, prompting her to take off at top speed. She had no time to waste.

"Ok!"

"If I'm right about how the core zone functions, my plan should work." Jeremy said.

Yumi continued forward, noting how different the room looked. She shook her head. This was not the time to be sight seeing. "Only two minutes left, Yumi!"

Yumi stopped and let out a noise of surprise. In front of her were a series of red lasers. She gritted her teeth before launching herself forward in a flip. It turned out not to be a great plan, as she hit the laser. She groaned as her arm became encased in electricity.

Jeremy grimaced at her life point count. "Down to 10 points, Yumi. This is not the time to mess up!"

Yumi lifted herself up and moved cautiously forward. She crawled under one set of lasers, then carefully maneuvered herself through the next set. She turned, hoping to be done, but XANA had other idea. Two more shot out in front of her. She frowned.

 **1st Person POV**

Squidward had arrived. Aelita backed away from the sight, seeming almost paralyzed by its presence. I lifted my staff towards it, but it smacked me in the face with one of its tentacles. I stumbled backwards from the sheer force. Surprisingly enough, I didn't lose any life points.

I sat up as best I could, but could only watch as the Scyphozoa lifted Aelita up off the ground. A red glow surrounded her body. While it did begin draining her memory, it seems Yumi managed to save us just in time.

The walls began shifting around the two of us. "The whole zone is being reconfigured!" Jeremy exclaimed suddenly. The wall between Aelita and the Scyphozoa lifted, forcing Squidward to drop her. She fell to the ground. I shook my head, then stood up and rushed over to her.

"C'mon, Aelita, we shouldn't stick around." I urged her.

"Take the access behind you." Jeremy instructed us. We looked back. A doorway had opened up. I shrugged and trucked along with Aelita by my side. We stopped when there seemed to be nowhere else to go.

"What now?" I asked.

"Yumi!" Aelita suddenly exclaimed as a whooshing sound went by us. I looked up to see Yumi riding atop a sort of fast moving elevator.

"Yumi's coming to pick you two up!" Jeremy said. Aelita and I nodded to one another. I took a few steps back in preparation. Aelita stuck her arm out.

The sound of the elevator then could be heard rapidly approaching us. Yumi grabbed Aelita's arm while I leapt on. I looked towards the Japanese girl as I stood up. "Where are you taking us?" I asked

"I have no idea." Was all Yumi could say. I shrugged and settled on looking forward.

Soon, the elevator began to slow. When it finally stopped, it led to another small hall with a door at the end. With nowhere else to go in sight, we took off for it.

And boy did it lead us somewhere amazing! We found ourselves surrounded by blue panels, not looking that unlike the towers of Lyoko's core sectors. And behind us was the giant sphere we'd been inside.

"The Celestial Dome..." I whispered in awe. It was an amazing sight to see in person.

"There's an interface," Yumi noted.

"I can get in." Aelita said, then tapped the screen. "Incredible!"

"What?" Jeremy asked.

"It's unbelievable. The interface gives access to XANA's own data!" Aelita exclaimed. Yumi and I shared an amazed glance at one another.

"Huh!?"

"Sector 5 is where XANA _lives_!" Aelita realized.

Yumi glanced up at the data walls warily. Several bulges were starting to form. "XANA's not a very good housekeeper,"

"No kidding. Theres some weird stuff hanging around here," I agreed. Then, I had a thought. "Say, if this is where XANA's data is, could it be possible that the rematerialization codes are here?"

"With all the data I have access to, it's certainly not out of the question." Aelita nodded.

"Look for the specific devirtualization code for Sector Five. If we find it, we can rescue Odd and Ulrich," Jeremy ordered. Aelita went straight to work sifting through the massive amount of data. Yumi and I looked up when we heard an unfamiliar cry.

The Flying Mantas had hatched. "Uh, Einstein? Yumi and I are gonna need our vehicles,"

I could hear him typing. "Uh oh, bad news: when Aelita's working on the interface, I can't do anything from my end," Jeremy explained. I gulped and pulled my staff out.

"I think I've found it. I'm transmitting it to you," Aelita reported.

"Ok, I'm taking over again now." Jeremy announced. And it wasn't a moment too soon. The Mantas had finally arrived at our location.

I heard a laser fire. I felt it hit me in the stomach before I could react. I fell flying backwards as my body burst into pixels. My world faded to black

 **3rd Person POV**

"Jeremy, the Overwing, now!" Yumi cried, still taken aback by Emily's devirtualization.

"It's on the way!" Jeremy exclaimed. Seconds later the purple vehicle appeared. The two females hopped aboard amd began to speed away from the new monsters.

"How do we get out of here?" Yumi asked. Aelita's eyes focused in on the four tunnels around the sector.

"There are some tunnels," she pointed out.

"But they're closed," Yumi noted. She manuvered the Overwing to dodge a blast.

"Let's see..." Jeremy spoke to himself.

Yumi meanwhile, continued dodging the laser fore as best she could. The monsters seemed adament that she be devirtualized. "Yippee, it worked!" Jeremy suddenly cried. Looking at one of the tunnels, the data had vanished, leaving an opened passage.

"Nice one Einstein," Yumi complimented, a smirk on her face. However, it didn't last long, as she was blasted by a laser only moments later.

"Yumi!" Aelita cried. The elf continued forward. The monsters never fired. Seconds after entering the tunnel, Aelita found herself exiting a tower in the Mountain Sector. "Jeremy, I got out through a Way Tower!"

"Ok, now get to a neutral tower and I'll bring you in."

 **Real World**

"It's okay Jeremy, I'm here. But what about the others?" Aelita asked as she exited the scanner.

"I'm entering the new code! Materialization, Odd. Materialization, Ulrich, Materialization, Emily. Materialization, Yumi." Jeremy pulled his earpiece out. "Now all we can do is hope..."

He went down to the scanner room. Aelita had her hands clasped together. The joined their hands when Jeremy arrived.

Soon, the scanners whirred with activity and filled the room with smoke. The opened to reveal Odd, Ulrich, and Emily. They each fell out, and soon Yumi arrived with them as well.

"Yeah!"

"We did it!"

"Odd, say something," Jeremy said, shaking his friends shoulder.

"Something..." Odd managed. Emily looked over at him and weakly shook her head.

"Not that funny, Odd," she said.

With Jeremy and Aelita helping them, the group made their way to the elevator. It'd been a long night, and they deserved some rest. Yumi grimaced at the time.

"My parents are gonna kill me when they find out I snuck out again," she moaned. The elevator came to halt as it reached the main floor. Kiwi wormed his way in through the small opening, making Odd gasp.

And it revealed Jim, Mr. Delmas, and Mr. and Mrs. Ishyama standing there. Emily looked over at Yumi and said, "Wow, they work fast,"

"Yumi, what are you doing here?" Yumi's father asked.

Mr. Delmas gave the group a stern expression. "I believe you _all_ have some explaining to do,"

The six gave one another a knowing look. Jeremy nodded at Emily, who then said. "I can't recall the last time I did any running, but I suppose now is a good time to JOG my memory!" Emily laughed as she bolted off alongside Aelita, with the terrible joke being distraction enough for everyone else sans Jeremy to take off as well.

Jeremy hit the elevator button as everyone ran away, though Jim managed to react in time. "Ha! Trying to outsmart me, huh?" Jim's confident expression faltered when he saw the lab. "What the-? Belpois! What is this place?"

"Nothing rings a bell Jim? Funny, cause you've been here before." Jeremy said with an amused look.

"What are you talking about? I'd have remembered this." Jim argued. Jeremy made face.

"Well, yes and no." Jeremy said

"Huh?" Jim wondered

"Return to the past, now!" Jeremy exclaimed as he pressed the enter key. The world became engulfed in white.

 **1st Person POV**

"Hey, here comes Yumi." I said. She approached us with a smile on her face. Looking at her parents, they seemed pretty satisfied as well.

Well, that sure seemed to satisfy your parents. What did you tell them?" Ulrich asked as a stray strand of hair fell over Yumi's face

"The truth." Yumi said as she pulled the strand behind her ear. She smiled at him.

"Hmm?" Ulrich wondered.

I scratched the back of my head at the two. " _I swear, I'll never understand them,_ "

* * *

 **And there ya have it! Exploration is done! I'll slowly be putting more stuff in this story that didn't happen in the show. That's kinda my way of feeling more comfortable with the characters, as that's something of extreme importance to me.**

 **As for my little project... I hesitate to give any hints about it, but considering the rather positive reaction I recieved...**

 **Well, I'll announce it soon. Let me get a solid draft of it first, because the idea is set at this point. I just need a story to fill it with, if you get what I'm saying.**

 **Next time, A Great Day!**


	4. A Great Day

**Anyone here having a great day? No? Hope you feel better then!**

 **A Great Day isn't one of my favorites. It still LIKE it, and it does show the importance of why they can't keep turning back time. It just probably wouldn't be in my top 10 of the season is all.**

 **Also, while I'm not sure it's my favorite of his quotes, I do like the expression on his face when Ulrich is telling Sissi about how Jeremy and Aelita 'believe they're virtual people,".**

 **Oh! And I never told you my favorite quote from Odd!**

 **"Fish are remarkably well adapted to water. What's more, they can swim." I use that all the time.**

* * *

Chapter 4: A Great Day

I looked around at the arena. We were off on another mission to Sector 5. This time though, the goal was information rather than exploration. Odd let out a groan and mumbled some nonsense about meatballs and the transporter. I rolled my eyes.

"Alright guys, the wall's about to open. Find the mechanism, and get to that interface!" Jeremy ordered above us. We all nodded.

"And we're off!" I exclaimed as the wall opened. It opened up in a strange fashion this time, spinning around while it opened. We all hopped along the opening as best we could.

We continued forward until we reached the core zone. This time, it was two narrow platforms that stretched across to the other side of the room. There were halls at the side of the room, but there was no real way we could reach them.

I narrowed my eyes as I scanned the wall for the mechanism. "Emily, directly behind and above you!" Jeremy said. I turned and looked up. Right above the doorway was the blue XANA shaped key. I nodded.

"On it!" I exclaimed, then took off for the wall. There were a series of tall blocks leading up to it.

I heard a growl as I climbed up the first block. "Laser Arrow!" Odd fired several arrows. I looked back to see that several Creepers had appeared in the unreachable halls and were firing from afar.

"You cover Aelita, Odd and I will handle them." Yumi said to Ulrich. The brunette nodded and pulled out his saber.

I let out a yelp when the block I was on suddenly began to move up and down. "Whoa!"

"Emily, you only have a minute left! Hurry it up!" Jeremy urged. I growled.

"Ok, I'd like to see you trying all this!" I retorted angrily. I waited for the next block to come down to a reasonable height, then leapt for it. "Ha ha! Ye- augh!" I grabbed my arm as it became covered with electricity.

Looking behind me revealed that a Creeper had snuck up behind me. "Oh crap!" I jumped up for the next block and pulled myself up. Looking up, I was in jumping reach of the mechanism.

"15 seconds left!" Jeremy announced. I didn't bother looking back at the others. As the block began moving up, I made my move. I jumped high into the air as I heard the monster fire. "Cloak Guard!" My barrier shattered instantly, but it was worth it. I hit the button.

I smirked as I landed. "Yeah! Now as for you... Magic Blast!" The Creeper let out one last roar before it's death. I could see the door in the distance open. I leapt off of the now immobile block to join the others in the race for the doorway. I rolled as I hit the ground and used the momentum I still had to catch up to Yumi and Aelita.

"Nice job," Ulrich complimented. I did a mock bow.

"Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week," I said jokingly.

"Well, let's hope you stay long enough for this trip. You're already down to 50 life points." Jeremy informed me as we reached the elevator.

I shrugged. "At least now I know I won't be lost if I'm devirtualized." I said casually.

"Get ready for the elevator," Aelita said. "Now!" We all jumped.

Luckily, we all made it. We ran off and went to the Celestial Dome after the elevator stopped. Aelita made her way to the terminal and began to sift through the data again.

"Hey, this place is cool!" Odd said. I smirked.

"I wouldn't get too attached, Odd. Just wait till the Flying Mantas hatch." I warned him.

Odd gave me a curious look. "Ooh, catchy name. What do they look like?"

"They'll be hard to miss." I answered cryptically.

Several minutes went by while Aelita looked through the data on the screen.

"What about the Mantas? How are we doing?" Jeremy asked. Ulrich's eyes narrowed when he saw the bulge beginning to form.

"Looks like they're gonna hatch real soon," he reported. He moved his hand to the hilt of his blade and gripped it tightly.

"And judging by the size of the nest, we're gonna have some big bouncing babies." Odd quipped.

"Then I'll give them their first meal of a Magic Blast. It really helps to develop the exploding portion of Mantas." I said, punching the air as if I were a boxer.

"Ok, that's it for now, Aelita," Jeremy came back on.

"Just a little bit longer Jeremy. We've never been able to access this much data." Aelita said. I had to smile. She sounded excited about it.

"We can always come back for more at a later time," I pointed out to her. She continued focusing on the interface.

"She's right. Let me take over again, ok?" Jeremy requested.

Odd approached her with a concerned expression. "Aelita, listen, I don't wanna rush you but uh..." He pointed up to the wall. Several Flying Mantas appeared. Four to be exact. Aelita nodded and ended her exploration through the data.

"Jeremy, they're here!" Yumi exclaimed.

"Ok, I've got things under control! Four vehicles coming right up!" Jeremy said. The four vehicles appeared, allowing all of us to hop in. Yumi had to quickly dodge a laser blast before allowing Aelita to hop on. I pushed down on the pedal and sped forward to dodge a laser blast. I held my staff tightly.

"Fireball!" I exclaimed. One of the Mantas was hit, a sight at which I beamed. "Ha ha! My aim's getting better! Ah!" I quickly turned my Overkart to avoid another laser. I pulled back to join up with the others.

The Mantas were following us. Odd grinned at Ulrich and said, "Wow, still just babies and check 'em out!"

"What do you think they are? Male or female?" Ulrich asked. He moved to his left to avoid some laser fire. Odd grinned at this.

"Considering their tempers, they've gotta be girls, right?" Odd joked.

"Just watch! I'll show 'em what it is to be a guy!" Ulrich said with a laugh. Yumi and I shared the same kind of expression. The kind of expression that just asks, "really?" without even having to speak.

"Jeremy, tell me, do we really need to hear this?" Yumi asked in annoyance.

"Seriously," I agreed, looking at the boys grinning faces.

"Uh, sorry ladies, but you can't always choose your friends." Jeremy told us. "Anyways, the tunnel will be open soon."

The goofy look on Ulrich's face vanished when he looked back at our monster pals. Getting an idea, he suddenly sped forward. He then moved his bike so he did a flip backwards. He pulled up against the Manta and unsheathed his sword.

He jumped off of the Overbike and onto the back of the Manta. The monster began to sway wildly in an attempt to get the samurai off of it. But it was no use. Ulrich stabbed the monster in it's eye. Ulrich jumped off before it exploded, but the explosion itself seemed to catch him off guard. With a cry he began to plummet down.

Odd reacted almost instantly. He rushed over as quick as he could and managed to catch the samurai. Ulrich shook his head and gave Odd a thankful look. "Just in time," Odd said.

The tunnel then opened up. "Ok, the tunnel is open. The Mantas shouldn't follow you inside," Jeremy said.

None of us hesitated in going inside. The Mantas backed off as expected of them. I looked back at them warily. Things were easy with them now. They were only going to get worse.

 **Lab**

"And there ya go!" We could hear Jeremy through the elevator. "The data analysis program is running!"

"Great, and what does that mean exactly?" Odd asked as the doors opened. Jeremy looked over at us as we all stepped out to join him in the lab. The holomap display of the Celestial Dome disappeared as we approached.

"With all the data we've been able to recover, I've got a good chance of finding the antivirus," Jeremy explained with a smile. I gave him an impressed look.

"You mean that pretty soon we'll be able to shut down the super calculator?" Ulrich asked hopefully.

"For a guy that loves showing off on Lyoko, you sure are eager to shut it down," I joked with him. I was ignored.

"But if it works, Aelita will no longer be tied to XANA by that horrible virus," Jeremy said. He and Aelita smiled at one another when he said that.

"Well that's always a good step. One less pain to deal with in the world. Well, your world anyway." I said, giving a thumbs up.

"Oh, so you mean killer viruses inside of a supercomputer aren't the norm in your world? What a shock. What did you do with all that spare time?' Odd asked, making a dramatic pose. He let out a laugh as I rolled my eyes.

"I dunno, maybe I studied a little, which is something you could do for yourself." I said, jabbing him with my finger.

"And learn something for once," Yumi added. Odd merely shrugged with a face that could be read as saying, 'whatever'.

Jeremy looked at the time on his watch. "Three AM, wow. We'd better head for our rooms if we don't wanna get caught,' he said, then stood up and stretched.

"Back to our boring old lives we go," Odd said with a sigh.

"Oh, don't worry Odd. With talk like that, we'll be back here before you can say dinner," I said with an unhappy smirk. Ulrich groaned.

"That sad part is that you're probably right," he said, then rubbed his eyes.

"Well let's just hope that XANA decides to give us a day off." Jeremy said. The elevator stopped and opened. I gave the blond an unconvinced look as he walked past me.

"Jeremy, knowing how XANA works, you just jinxed us,"

 **Kadic**

I opened the door of Aelita's and I room. Almost instantly I flopped onto my bed. Being a Lyoko Warrior could be really- no, scratch that, EXTREMELY draining at times. Activated towers, increasingly dangerous XANA attacks, Sector 5 missions, the list goes on.

Before I could go to bed though, I knew of one thing I needed to stop. I looked up to see Aelita still at the door, whispering with Jeremy. I pulled myself up and put a hand on her shoulder. I felt her jump slightly as she and Jeremy looked at me. "Look, I hate to interrupt a moment, but I'm exhausted, and probably only gonna get a couple hours of sleep at most. Let's not add getting in trouble for being out too late to the list of reasons I'm unpleasant in the mornings, shall we?"

Jeremy sent me a slightly annoyed look, but then turned back to Aelita with a smile. "Well, good night,"

"Good night, Jeremy," Aelita replied, then closed the door.

I looked back over at her as I sat back down on my bed. "Sorry if I seemed a little annoyed. It's late and knowing some of the girls here it wouldn't surprise me if someone wanted to listen in on the conversation. The last thing we need if for our secret to not remain so, right?" I pulled off my shoes and laid down. I looked at the clock and sighed. May as well get some sleep while I could

 **Morning**

 _"It's Tuesday already! No, you're not dreaming, or rather you're not dreaming anymore. It's already seven o'clock in the morning on-"_ I hit the alarm clock with my fist to shut it up. I then lifted my head with a groan.

"I've always hated how obnoxious he is," I said, mostly to myself. Aelita sat up and rubbed her eyes. I pulled my glasses on and stretched my sore arm.

"He may be obnoxious, but at least you wake up on time," Aelita said, pulling out her things.

"Yeah... I guess that's true,"

The morning went on without incident. Well... without much of one anyway. As Aelita and I were headed to the bathroom to brush our teeth and get ready, Sissi was walking by and purposely bumped me in the shoulder. She had an earbud in and grinned when she saw the two of us.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Emily, I must've not seen you there," she said, a fake innocence in her voice.

"Given how much taller I am than you, that's hard to believe," I remarked with a raised brow. She shrugged.

"I must've been distracted by my music. Now if you'll excuse me," Sissi then turned and walked out of the hall. I looked down at Aelita, who shrugged at me.

Later, Aelita and I approached the others. Yumi was leaning against a wall and talking with Ulrich. SHe had a sullen look on her face.

"...I couldn't exactly tell them that there were four friends involved and three of them boys could I? That would've really freaked them out," Yumi said. I winced, having a good feeling I knew what she was talking about. Having to deal with parents on top of all the XANA nonsense must not have been a fun feeling.

Ulrich glanced up at her from where he was sitting. "Why didn't you just make up a story? I do it all the time with my parents," Ulrich's expression soured upon the mentioning of his parents.

I gave them both a sympathetic expression. "Somehow, I get the feeling Yumi's sick of lying all the time. Am I right?" I asked. Yumi nodded sadly.

"Don't worry Yumi, soon you won't have to lie anymore. C'mon, cheer up! It's gonna be a great day, they said so on the radio." Jeremy smiled at her hopefully.

"Oh, did they? I shut that guy up as soon as I can. He's annoying," I said with an annoyed look. I heard Ulrich laugh.

"Leave it to Emily to be annoyed by the strangest of things," The bell soon rang, and we were off to class.

 **Science Class**

"She taped the conversation Aelita and I had," Jeremy told us. He'd sat down next to Odd with a disturbed look.

"The one you two had last night? But you two didn't talk too much about Lyoko related things, right?" I inquired. I silently prayed that we could have one lest problem to deal with. I could deal with a detention for being out past curfew. As usual, however, things didn't seem to go my way.

"There were mentions, but it was enough for her to piece together that we're up to something strange." Jeremy grimaced. I pulled of my glasses and rubbed the bride of my nose.

" _Of all the things I can change while here, I fail to accomplish this one,_ " I thought bitterly.

"But what does she want exactly?" Ulrich asked. He and I eyes the girl in question. She was looking forward with a bored expression, occasionally poking at her nails with a touch more enthusiasm.

"She wants to be a part of our group and that we explain everything to her from A to Z," Jeremy explained, getting my attention back.

"Right, because last time she was a part of our group that went _so_ well," I recalled. I frowned at the memories. I never hated Sissi, and I felt that she certainly had her moments of heroics. The problem was I don't think she was cut out for being a full fledged Lyoko Warrior, especially not after what happened in the short time she WAS a part of the team.

"Well, if we don't explain, things will end up similar to last time. She said she'd tell her father everything,"Jeremy informed us.

"Wow, she's even worse than I thought," Odd commented in amazement.

It seems our conversation was a bit too loud, however. "Excuse me, you four, do you mind if I teach a class here?" Ulrich, Jeremy, and I all shifted in our seats to face the front. I straightened my posture, mostly to make it seem like I was more alert.

Odd, however, had other ideas. "Not at all, ma'am. After all, it is your job," Odd replied. Ms. Hertz gave him a harsh look and crossed her arms.

"Yes, and my job is also to ask questions, isn't it Odd? So would you be kind enough to tell me the mass in moles of two oxygen atoms?" Ms. Hertz asked.

Odd put a finger to his chin in thought. "Um... um-"

"32 grams per mole. And the principle of photosynthesis?: Ms. Hertz asked.

" _C'mon, Odd, this one is basic!_ " I wanted say that to him, but I held my tongue.

"Uh, you mean-"

"The synthesis of oxygen from plants possessing chlorophyll placed in light." Ms. Hertz answered her own question once again as she walked over to where Odd sat. With a small smirk on her face, she then asked, "Alright, here's an easy one now: which student in this graduating class is the biggest failure in science, who nevertheless, takes the liberty of not listening to my lessons?"

"Uh.. me, Ms. Hertz?" Odd answered, his head bowed.

"Bravo, well done, Odd. You see what you can do when you apply yourself?" Several other students began laughing as Ms. Hertz moved back up to the front of the room to continue her lesson.

" _Man, talk about being harsh,_ " I thought.

 **After Class**

Odd, Aelita, Jeremy, and I were sitting on the stairs to the science building. Ulrich was with us too, but he was more interested the martial arts move he was doing.

"At least we've learned a lesson from all this: keep conversations about Aelita's identity in the factory or your room, Einstein," I said, trying to look on the bright side. Not that there was much of one, but it was worth a shot.

"Right." Jeremy said, and Aelita nodded in agreement. "But whatever happens, we can't let Sissi tell her father,"

"Don't worry, Jeremy. I've got an idea," Ulrich grunted as he did an impressive kick. He glanced back at Jeremy and Odd. "But I'm going to need you two to help,"

Odd hopped off the railing he was sitting on. "Alright. What do you need?" Ulrich merely smirked at them.

 **Main Campus**

I looked up from my phone over at Aelita. The two of us were sitting on a bench waiting for the boys to get back. The plan was for Ulrich to distract Sissi with a martial arts class while Jeremy and Odd stole the CD player, or at least the disc.

Leaning back on the bench, I asked, "You think the plan is really gonna work?"

"I hope so. Given what you've told me about last time, I agree with you that it's best that she doesn't know." Aelita asnwered, an unsure look on her face. "All we can do is hope for the best."

I pursed my lips in thought. "I suppose if things got too bad, we could use a return trip. It might be the best course of action if things go too far south,"

Speaking of return trips, before Aelita could respond, a white light engulfed the world.

...Wait, what!?

 **Dorm Room**

 _"It's Tuesday already! No, you're not dreaming, or rather you're not dreaming anymore. It's already seven o'clock in the morning on-"_ I lifted my head groggily as I hit my alarm clock. I blinked in surprise as I found myself back in the dorm room.

I pulled on my glasses and looked over at Aelita. "Ok... what just happened?"

"A return to the past is what it seems like," Aelita answered. She glanced up at our calendar and found Tuesday to still not be marked out. Just like it had been before I marked it today.

"What convenient timing that it just happened as we were talking about it," I muttered sarcastically.

"Maybe things got to that point, like you had said they could," Aelita threw out as she handed my my things. I opened the door and we began walking to the bathroom.

"I'm not saying that's impossible, but I'd like to think someone, be it Jeremy or one of the others, would let everyone know about." I felt someone bump into me with quite a bit of force. Big surprise, there was Sissi and her annoying smirk.

"Oh, I'm-"

"Sorry you ran into me. Yadda yadda yadda," I said, making a talking movement with my hand as I continued walking. "Just watch where you're going next time, Delmas," I heard Sissi let out a 'humph' before she walked away. A smirk stayed on my face for the rest of my time in the bathroom that morning.

 **Arches**

"But I didn't program going back in time," Jeremy said, just as confused as we were. I scratched the back of my head at that.

Aelita tilted her head at that. "Then how do you explain the fact that Tuesday is starting again?"

"It's weird," I agreed. "Think it could be a bug?"

"Only one way to find out. Let's head to the factory after science class to check it out." Aelita and I nodded in agreement. Ulrich looked over at Sissi and her Brat Brigade. They were standing relatively close to us. Luckily, not close enough to hear us.

"At least we've got a second chance to get Sissi off our backs," Ulrich remarked, then began walking over to her. "Sissi? Oh, I'm so glad to see you," Ulrich told her, a false smile on his face.

"Y-you are? You see I uh, I wanted to talk to Jeremy," Sissi said in surprise. Ulrich shrugged off the idea.

"Ah, that can wait. There's been something I've been wanting to ask you for a long time, but... I just can't bring myself to do it." Ulrich said. He closed his eyes.

Sissi's eyes widened. "You... can't uh?" she stammered. There was a silence between the two for about half of a minute.

"Would you like to learn, penchak silat with me?" Ulrich finally asked. I swear I saw her excitement falter for a split second, but regardless, she gave him a happily shocked look.

"Well, yes!" she exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes at the scene. " _Whatever works, I suppose,"_

 **Class**

"So would you be kind enough to tell me the mass in moles of two oxygen atoms?" Ms. Hertz asked once again. Odd feigned confusion for a moment, putting a finger to his chin in thought, then answered.

"32 grams per mole, ma'am," he responded.

Ms. Hertz seemed taken aback that he was correct. "Oh, yes, that's right," she almost seemed stunned. She quickly shook it off. "Very well Odd. Now please, would you explain to me the principle of photosynthesis?"

"Of course ma'am. That would be the synthesis of oxygen from plants possessing chlorophyll placed in light," Odd answered. There were several gasps in the room. I placed a hand in front of my mouth to keep my from giggling out loud. The look on Ms. Hertz's face was just priceless.

"Odd, is it really you? You haven't been replaced by a clone?" Our teacher could hardly believe it.

"No ma'am, why? Is something wrong?" Odd asked innocently. "

"No uh- no," Ms. Hertz responded quickly She then cleared her throat and turned back around. "Ahem, let's go on with our lesson,"

Glancing back, I saw a huge grin on Odd's face. "Hey, wow! Being a good student is so cool!" Odd whispered. Jeremy and I merely looked at one another and smiled.

 **Factory**

"Do you think we're going to live the same day over and over again?" Aelita asked. Jeremy, Aelita, Odd, and I had all met up with Yumi while Ulrich dealt with our Sissi problem.

Jeremy frowned at the thought of Aelita's suggestion. "First, I have to isolate the program that jumps back in time to see what's going on," Jeremy explain. I watched the screen from the side of Jeremy's chair. Aelita watched from the other side.

"Maybe it's XANA's doing,' I threw out. "Though why he'd do it I'm not entirely sure,"

"We'll know in a minute," Jeremy said, typing away.

Yumi looked over at Odd. The purple clad boy saw sitting near the holomap with a science textbook in his hands. "Odd, you mind telling us what you're doing over there?"

"I'm studying. That's what you wanted me to do, wasn't it?"Odd answered. Yumi let out an impressed noise.

I bit my lip as a screen full of red lines appeared on the monitor. "What is THAT?" I asked.

"XANA's managed to take control over going back in time!" Jeremy realized. Aelita and I gave one another astonished looks.

"But how?" Aelita asked.

"If you ask me, he used the data we recovered from Sector 5. Booby trap data!" Jeremy said. He gripped the arm of his chair tightly.

"Here's a better question: why?" I asked. I stared at the screen as the red lines of what I presume to be code moved about in a jumbled fashion.

"He must have a good reason," Aelita figured. "He would go through all that trouble for nothing,"

"I don't know. In any event, it's starting up again!" Jeremy notified us. The window with the code disappeared as another with a spinning, glowing earth replaced it. The countdown timer began counting down rapidly.

"Just fantastic," I groaned, rubbing the bridge of my nose again.

Jeremy typed in a few more commands. "I'll launch a scan to see if a tower's been activated," Jeremy decided. The window for the superscan popped up. Soon enough, a tower appeared with the XANA logo next to it. "Tower activated! XANA's launched an attack."

"But what kind?" Yumi questioned.

"I don't know yet, but we can expect the worst." Jeremy answered.

"One thing's for sure, he didn't take control of jumping back in time for the fun of it." I gripped my sleeves tightly. The countdown neared closer and closer to zero. "Get ready. It's starting again!"

For a second time, white engulfed the world.

 **Dorm Room**

 _"It's Tuesday-_ " I slammed my hand on the alarm.

"Oh, put a sock in it," I said in annoyance.

"Is this what you meant when you said you're not a morning person?" Aelita asked jokingly. I rolled my eyes as I opened the closet and handed her her things.

"More like I feel like I'm going insane," I muttered. We walked out of the room again. This time I merely sidestepped out of Sissi's path. "Not dealing with your shit today, Delmas. Keep walking before I do more than swear at you," I didn't bother looking back for a reaction.

 **Class**

I've gotta admit, seeing Odd play the role as teacher really lightened my mood. He was drawing diagrams on the chalkboard, much to everyone's amazement.

"What's fascinating is that plants use the suns energy to change water and carbon dioxide into glucose, and in exchange, give off oxygen!" Odd spouted off. I sucked on my bottom lip to keep myself from smiling or laughing too hard at the sight.

The astounded look on Ms. Hertz's face was just as grand as ever. "Odd, if you keep this up, you'll be teaching the class instead of me,"

"Oh, I certainly don't know as much as you Ms. Hertz," Odd said with a coy grin. I couldn't help but let a few snickers slip out.

"I'm beginning to wonder,"

"Just think, I'll have to start all over again with Sissi," Ulrich said, frowning.

Jeremy shook his head. "Don't even bother, Ulrich. I need you too much on Lyoko to help the others deactivate the tower,"

"Glad to see how much faith you have in the rest of us," I told him, being somewhat sarcastic.

"That's not what I me-"

"I know Einstein. I just love messing with you," I lightly slugged him on the shoulder. "But in all seriousness, what about Sissi?" Ulrich nodded, wishing he'd explain.

"We'll find another way," Jeremy assured us.

"Fair enough." A smile wormed it's way onto Ulrich's face. "I really don't think I could be as clever as I was 'yesterday'. Not like Odd," We all looked back over at him as he continued with lesson.

 **Factory**

Soon enough, the six of us had made our way back to the factory. Ulrich and Odd made a motion for the scanners as they opened.

"Please, ladies first," Ulrich said.

"Yes, we insist," Odd agreed. I smiled at the both of them.

"Well, aren't you two just the epitome of chivalry." I laughed. "Then again, it's better than last time Odd tried. You offered for me to go first into the sewers."

The three of us each stepped into a scanner. "Transfer, Yumi. Transfer, Aelita. Transfer, Emily. Scanner, Yumi. Scanner, Aelita, Scanner, Emily. VIRTUALIZATION!"

 **Lyoko**

The three of us landed in the Mountain Sector. No monsters were in sight, but we all knew it was only a matter of time before that changed. Odd and Ulrich landed behind us only seconds later.

"The activated tower is on the second plateau to the north," Jeremy informed us. I looked in that direction and nodded. "Sorry, but you're gonna have to go without vehicles, because I don't have enough machine resources to bring them up,"

"No sweat, it'll be just like the good ol' days," Ulrich said.

"Alright, let's go!" I said, making a motion for the others to follow me.

"Ok, good luck. I'm gonna try and regain control of jumping back in time." Jeremy told us. Our trek across the sector was quiet. No Hornets buzzing around, no angry Megatanks rolling after us, nothing.

Odd seemed to make the same realization. "It's kinda quiet," he noted.

"Too quiet if you ask me," Ulrich said.

"You can never really enjoy the present moment, can you Ulrich?" I asked him. A familiar buzzing sound soon rang out across the sector. We all looked back.

"Oh yes I can!" Ulrich exclaimed excitedly. A large squadron of Hornets was fast approaching us.

"Jeremy, XANA is sending us monsters," Yumi explained.

"So I see. Separate their flight pattern. That ought to weaken them," Jeremy suggested. Yumi looked at Odd and I with a stern expression.

"Odd, Emily, take Aelita to the tower. Ulrich and I will take care of the monsters," Yumi ordered.

"Guys, on your right! There should be a path that leads to the tower." Jeremy boomed. The three of us took off on the path.

"With a platform to land on?" Odd asked.

"Well, logically, yes," Jeremy answered in a tone that wasn't entirely convincing.

"That's encouraging," Odd deadpanned in reponse. We peered over the edge of the cliff. A thick fog covered what may have been below it. We all nodded at one another. "GERONIMO!" Odd cried.

"LEAP OF FAITH!" I exclaimed. Aelita simply screamed as we plummeted. Soon enough, we hit the bottom.

"Nice jump, but it cost you each 20 life points," Jeremy told us.

"Maybe so, but it was worth it. The tower is in sight,"

With Ulrich and Yumi, they were staring intently at their monster buddies. "They're here. Ready?" Ulrich asked. Yumi nodded and pulled her fans out. "Super Sprint!" Ulrich ran forward, attracting the attention of about half the squad.

That left Yumi to deal with the other half herself. She blocked a few lasers, then dodged some in some impressive front flips. "Hiyah!"She threw one of her fans back and hit one of the Hornets. "That's one gone," she said, catching the fan.

Ulrich stopped running when he became surrounded by the Hornets. Growling, he lifted his saber up in preperation to play the defensive side. The Hornets fired as they circled around him, making it easy at first. Quickly though, it became too much. He was blasted in his back. Three Hornets then left the samurai to find where the others had dropped.

Ulrich then used his super sprint to run up the wall of the mountain next to him. He then vaulted off before slicing the two remaing Hornets. "Jeremy, the Hornets are attacking Odd, Aelita, and Emily!"

We had been running across another path. "Guys, get ready for guests! Three Hornets are heading for you!" Jeremy suddenly exclaimed.

Aelita stopped and looked towards the sky. "Shush, Odd, Emily, listen." Odd and I looked up to find the Hornets in question fast approaching.

"You go hide. We'll take care of this," Odd ordered. Aelita offered no arguments as she ran off.

"Guys, time's running out! XANA has started another jump back in time!" Jeremy exclaimed.

"Great, just what we needed," I grunted. I pulled out my staff and held it at the ready. "Magic Blast!" The Hornet just narrowly managed to manuver out of the way.

"Laser Arrow!" His shots missed. He did a flip, then rolled out of the way. I pulled my cloak over my body to negate the damge I took.

"Super Sprint!" We both looked back to see Ulrich approaching fast. He stopped and glanced at Odd woth a nod. "Odd, yours!" He threw his saber. It cut through one of the Hornets and became stuck in the wall.

"Ha ha!" Odd exclaimed as he jumped up to grab the sword. He fired at the remaining Hornets and killed them on the spot. He threw the sword back to its owner. Ulrich sheathed his saber once again.

"If only I had more time to find a solution," Jeremy bemoaned.

"Cheer up Jeremy, you're about to get another day." Yumi said.

Yet again, the world was engulfed in white.

 **Dorm Room**

 _"It-"_ I shut the alarm up yet again.

I sent a glare at it. "The faster we fix this, the better," I said, clenching my fist. Several seconds went by without a response. I looked over to see no one there where Aelita was supposed to be. "...Oh shit,"

I quickly threw on my clothes and bolted out of the door. I ran through the hall, much to the confusion of the other girls on the floor. Strangely enough, Sissi wasn't among them. I thought very little of it and continued on to the stairs.

I found Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd underneath the arches. I paused to catch my breath. "Aelita's not in our room," I said, out of breath slightly still.

"Jeremy just called. She's still in Lyoko." Yumi explained.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get a move on!" I exclaimed, then began running for the manhole. The others followed closely behind. We went along on our usual routine.

We quickly scampered out of the elevator and into the lab. "Aelita? Aelita are you there?" Yumi asked. Several seconds went by without a response. Right as we began to fear the worst, her face appeared on screen.

"Yes, I hear you. Thank goodness you're here," Aelita said, her voice quiet. I think all of us breathed out in relief. "But what are you doing? I need you over here!" Aelita asked worriedly.

"We're waiting for Jeremy. Without him, we can't do anything," Yumi explained with a frown. I looked over at Ulrich, who had decided to try and call Jeremy once again. He lowered his phone and shook his head.

"Still no answer," He informed us, a trace of worry in his voice.

"Ok, we'll find him," Odd decided. Ulrich, Odd, and I made our way into the elevator.

"We'll be back as soon as we can," I assured Yumi. I saw her nod as the elevator doors closed. " _Hang on Einstein, the calvary's on its way,_ "

 **Boiler Room**

Jeremy was nowhere to be found in the tunnels, so our next option was to search the school. A slightly risky option given that classes were going on, but we had to try. But as it turns out, we wouldn't have to look very hard at all. When we opened the door, we were shocked to find Sissi looking at Jeremy, who was being restrained by Nicholas and Herb. The two cronies had a lost look on their face.

"Odd, Ulrich, Emily, look out! Sissi is possessed by XANA!" Jeremy exclaimed. Sissi let out a growl and stood in front of the blond. Even through the growl it was obvious her voice was distorted. In her eyes were the eye of XANA. It was honestly pretty frightening.

The XANAfied Sissi grabbed one of the gold pipes that lined the walls and moved towards us threateningly. Smoke, or maybe it was steam, emerged from the pipe due because of the break in it. That was luckily enough for Jeremy to get out of Nicholas and Herb's grasp. Letting out another angry snalr, Sissi tried to smack Jeremy upside the head with the pipe, but she only hit more metal instead.

Ulrich picked up a piece of the pipe that had split off and held it similarly to his saber. "Go on. I'll handle her," he urged.

"Are you sure?" Jeremy asked in concern. Ulrich flashed him an annoyed look.

"Get going, will ya?"

I looked back at him before leaving. "Good luck," I said, then ran off to join Odd and Jeremy. We raced back to the factory as fast as we could.

"How did XANA learn to possess people?" Odd asked, still in shock.

"It looks like he's increased his powers," Jeremy deduced.

"Gee, thanks captain obvious. But how?" I asked sarcastically.

"With..." A realization dawned on him. "The jumps back in time!"

"What!?" Odd and I chorused. We looked at one another. "You think so?"

"I sure do! The supercalculator is a quantum computer that uses the properties of qbytes. Every time you add a qbyte, it's power theoretically doubles. I think the-" It was time to stop him before we were there all day.

"English, Jeremy. In English," I broke in.

"Well, the supercalculator is so powerful, it can undoubtedly do it," Jeremy explained simply.

"Ok, now that we get that, let's go stop this mess!" I shouted. We ran across the bridge, swung down, then hit the elevator button.

Yumi gave us a distressed look as the doors opened. "There you are at last! Aelita's in trouble!" Yumi exclaimed. She bit one of her nails in worry. Jeremy rushed over to the computer and gasped. The Scyphozoa was right in front of Aelita.

"Get to the scanners, NOW!" He ordered. The three of us went down the ladder and practically jumped into the scanners. "VIRTUALIZATION!" Jeremy cried, skipping his usual spiel.

 **Lyoko**

We once again landed in the Mountain Sector. Squidward was right in front of us. Acting fast, Yumi threw her fans to take out the Hornets.

"Ice Shards!" I called out. A few small shards of ice jutted up from the ground, severing several tentacles. With a gasp Aelita fell to the ground looking a bit exhausted, but otherwise ok.

"Laser Arrow!" Odd fired a few arrows for good measure. The Scyphozoa slinked away with a distorted cry.

"XANA's started another jump back in time! We might have to start all over again!" Jeremy exclaimed.

"I'd really rather not, Jeremy," Odd said in irritation.

"We're so close, we can't let that all go to waste!" I agreed. We rushed over to Aelita as she stood up.

"Aelita, are you alright?" Yumi asked.

"Yeah," She shook her head to wave off the attack.

"Oh, we just HAVE to make it to that darn tower!" Yumi cried in exasperation.

"And we're not there yet," Odd said, looking towards the tower. A lone Tarantula stood in our path. I gripped my staff tightly.

"We won't get a second chance!"

"That means we have to end this now!" I urged. Odd gave the monster a playful smirk.

"No sweat. I'll cover you." He rushed forward and leaped onto a nearby rock.

"I did it! I stopped the jump back in time!" Jeremy cheered suddenly. I grinned as I looked towards Aelita.

"You and I are gonna book it for the tower, ok?" I explained to her.

"Ok, got it," she affirmed with a nod. I watched as Yumi cartwheeled and flip around to confused the Tarantula.

"NOW!" I shouted. The Tarantula looked back at us as we dashed forward. It managed to fire at us once before Yumi's fans sliced off it's blasters. "Cloak Guard!" I raised my cape as we ran. And explosion then sounded off behind us, signaling the Tarantula's end. Aelita rushed into the tower as fast as she could.

 **With Ulrich**

To say things had been going poorly for him would be an understatement. He had been forced to abandon his pipe weapon after it was bent out of a usable condition. XANA seemed to increase Sissi's strength, making her a very dangerous adversary.

He tried running out of the room, but the door was blasted down. He managed to get a kick in on her, but he only managed to hit her CD player. It fell to the ground in a beyond repair state. He fell as he was backed into a corner.

"Sissi, no!" he cried. She only let out a horrifying growl in response. He squeezed his eyes shut, ready for the blow, but it never came. He heard the pipe drop from Sissi's grasp.

"Huh? What's going on? What am I doing here?" she asked in confusion. Her eyes suddenly met with her broken electronic. "Oh no! My walkman, my minidisc!"

Ulrich could only stare in both astonishment and relief.

 **Kadic**

I let out a huffy breath as we sat on one of the stairs on the building. Ms. Hertz wasn't exactly please that all six of us skipped her class. On the bright side though, it was finally Wednesday.

"Sissi doesn't remember a thing," Ulrich explained. "It's as if nothing ever happened."

"Lucky for us. Those four hours of detention Ms. Hertz gave us still aren't looking any nicer though," I groaned. I let my head rest in my hands. "My first detention in my entire life, thanks a lot, XANA,"

"If our homework is on photosynthesis, I just might get the only good grade of my entire career as a scholastic washout," Odd suddenly broke in happily. I rolled my eyes and elbowed him playfully.

"Anyway, we now know that XANA can control people," Jeremy said.

"We also know that jumping back in time increases his power," Aelita added.

"We're gonna have to be extra careful from now on," Yumi said with a nod.

I looked towards the sky with a frown. "Our lives just got a whole lot harder,"

* * *

 **Another one bites the dust! I'm eh on how this turned out, but oh well.**

 **Next time: Mister Puck.**


	5. Mister Puck

**Sorry if you feel this took awhile. I was finalizing some details for this series. well... more like reworking it entirely, cause my original one was a little... asspullish and had very little to do with Code Lyoko itself.**

 **I was also working on that project I've mentioned before. It's... more difficult to write for than I thought it'd be. I was ALSO worling on some oneshots. I already published one. Now, I admit that it's not my best work, but it's a stepping stone for me. Keep in mind that most of the stuff I've posted thus far has been 'novelization' type stories with extra characters, so original conent is a bit new for me.**

 **Thus, why I hesitate to announce my project.**

 **Anyway...**

 **I actually really like this episode! Mister Puck would probably be in my top 10 for season 2. Introduced more mystery around Aelita and how the Lyoko Warriors are immune to XANA's possessions.**

 **As a whole though, I think this episode really solidified Aelita's place as being my favorite character. I was just so fascinated by what these visions of hers were. Season 2 as a whole really gave her much more of a personality and by season 3, she's just a complete badass.**

 **Also, she's witty. Becomes so much more witty.**

 **In canon, that's totally Odd's fault.**

* * *

Chapter 5: Mister Puck

 _I once again found myself staring at the door. I let out a sigh as I sat down against it. It'd had been an on and off thing for me to appear in front of it. And of course, it was usually uneventful. Just me sitting in front of a door, occasionally swearing at it, for what felt like several hours._

 _"Y'know, it'd be nice if I could get some hints on what the hell you are," I spoke to myself. That was the norm when I was here. "A message, a whisper... I dunno, but SOMETHING!" I felt my levels of frustration rising. I stood up and glared at the door before kicking it as hard as I could._

 _That's when I heard a noise. I could barely hear it, but I heard what sounded like two people laughing. It was faint, so I couldn't recognize the laughs at all._

 _My head snapped up in surprise. I looked around the grayscale world around me in the utmost confusion. What was going on? "Who's there?! Show yourself!" I commanded._

 _Nothing moved. The laughter started again, making me look around. Suddenly, I looked towards the door. The sound was coming from the other side. I pounded my fist against the door rapidly, hoping someone would answer, that it would open._

 _I was met with disappointment as the world around me began to fade to black. I was waking up. The sound of laughter became more distant, until it finally stopped and was replaced by a scream._

 _That was a noise I knew well._

 **Dorm Room**

My eyes opened as Aelita let out a scream. I sighed. She'd had another nightmare.

I lifted my head to talk with her. "You o- augh!' I cried out in pain as the door was opened and met sharply against my head. Aelita cringed, likely both at the door slamming, and the fact that it had slammed into me.

Yeah... our room was set up a tad bit strangely. My bed was next to the door while her's was towards the back of the room against the other wall.

"Who is that _screaming!?_ " Sissi screeched. Aelita lowered the blanket she was holding and squinted her eyes from the light.

"Um well, you are," Aelita said pointedly. Had I not been in pain, I would've grinned.

Sissi let out an aggravated growl. "Do you know what _time_ it is!?"

Aelita looked at our clock (Which had since been moved, due to her fear that I would break it in my morning annoyment after the time reversal incident). "Um, five o'clock in the morning?"

I groaned and pushed myself up to look at Sissi. "Right, and it's much too early to deal with your crap right now, Sissi. Just go back to bed,"

She glared down at me. "Well that's a bit difficult when your roommate has woken me up the past three nights! I have HAD it!" She slammed the door shut. Aelita flinched at that.

She looked at me with concern. "Are you ok?" she asked.

I pressed my hand against where I'd been struck and winced. "I'll live. Still hurts like hell though,"

"I'm sorry," Aelita apologized. She stared back into her blankets with them tightly in her grip.

I shook my head. "Don't be. Not your fault Sissi is inconsiderate." I let out a laugh at a thought I had. "See? She's really effective at giving people headaches!" I saw her give me a weak smile. "Hey, are you ok?"

At first, it seemed like she was about answer me with a yes, but she hesitated. She let out a sigh and gave me an almost defeated expression. "It's always the same one,"

"The one with the wolves?" She nodded. "Well, I don't really know what to tell you. Nightmares have never been a problem with me. Have you talked with Jeremy about them?"

"Yes," she nodded. "He doesn't really know what to make of them either. I think I worried him." She wrung her hands bit.

"Probably, but that just means he's a good friend," I smiled at her. "He cares about you a lot,"

She gave me a smile and blushed at the mention of that. "He cares about all of us,"

"I'm not saying that isn't true, but well... Let me put it this way: not just any guy would spend over a year creating a materialization program for a girl inside a computer." I smiled as her face reddened. " _Those two are just so cute,"_

 **Later**

The two of us sat there for the next couple of hours and talked about random things. Lyoko things, things about each other, classwork, boring old things really.

Soon enough though, it was time to get ready for the day. Aelita and I both walked out of the dorm to get ready. She was going to take a shower while I brushed my teeth.

There were several girls in the bathroom, and Sissi was one of them. I glared at her as I uncapped my toothpaste. I rubbed the spot on my head and winced again. Still hurt.

I heard a scream as I rinsed my mouth out. I looked up and found Aelita slamming the door to the showers shut, trembling.

"Out of our way," Sissi then said as she approached the shower.

Aelita gaver her a fearful look. "Don't go in there! There's a huge wolf in there!"

"Aelita?" I asked, worried.

"Oh really?" Sissi asked. She shoved Aelita out of the way and opened the door. Several gasps were heard as the door revealed...

Emilee to be inside.

"A four-eyed wolf," Sissi laughed alongside several of the other girls. Aelita looked down at the floor with embarrassment.

" _Oh, Aelita..."_

 **Main Campus**

"Morning, ladies," Ulrich said as he, Yumi, Jeremy, and Odd approached us. I waved back at him. Aelita didn't respond, something not missed by the others.

"Hey, you awake there, Princess?" Odd asked, nudging her slightly. She jumped slightly from being pulled away from her thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine," she said.

"Is something wrong? You seem a little out of it," Jeremy noted. Aelita bowed her head and sighed.

"I had another nightmare last night."

"Another one?" Jeremy asked, his tone filled with worry.

"The same one as always," she told him. The others all gave her a sympathetic look.

"And things took a turn for the worst this morning as well. You mind if I tell them?" I asked, looking toward her. She shook her head. "Aelita thought she saw a wolf in the showers this morning, almost like she was hallucinating," I explained.

Jeremy put a hand to his chin in thought.

"It's a shame you didn't dream about me, Aelita, because you know me, I'm a real dream come true," Odd joked, putting a hand on Aelita's shoulder.

"More like a nightmare to tell the truth, Odd," Ulrich commented with a smirk.

I pinched myself and frowned. "Damn, I can't wake up from this horror. It's like that song everyone makes fun of. Wake me up inside!" I sung dramatically, earning a laugh out of Ulrich.

Our antics were ignored by the others. "These visions of yours are becoming a real problem," Yumi noted.

"It all started at the Hermitage. I think you should go back there," Jeremy suggested.

"What!? Back to that old house?! I'm not sure if you remember, but last time we were attacked by a cupboard, a lamp, and a gang of forks!" Odd reminded him, listing them off on his fingers.

Aelita suddenly stood up, catching our attentions. "I don't like that place. It scares me!" she protested. Yumi put her hands on her shoulders in a comforting motion.

"We don't have any choice Aelita, if we don't do something your hallucinations could get worse." Yumi said.

"Don't worry, this time we'll be with you," Jeremy said reassuringly. He held her hand and smiled at her.

I looked at the time. "C'mon. If we hurry, we'll have enough time to do it before math class,"

 **Hermitage**

The house looked as decrepit as ever. Aelita glanced up nervously at it.

"My legs are shaking. What's happening to me?" she wondered.

"You're scared." Odd explained. "It's nothing to worry about. It happens to Jeremy all the time," I had to snicker at that. The blond sent both of a us a glare.

"C'mon, we'll see who's scared," Jeremy urged. Holding Aelita's hand, he led her and the rest of us inside. As we entered, Odd ran up to a book.

"There, there! Stay down, boy!" Odd ordered it jokingly. The book, of course, didn't move an inch.

"Well look at that. It follows orders better than Kiwi," I laughed.

Jeremy gave Aelita a reassuring smile. "See? There's nothing to worry about," he told her. Aelita stared at the nearby stairs. Leting her hand slide out of his grip, she made her way forward, seeming to almost be in a trance. I glanced at Yumi and Ulrich. They were expressionless.

We followed closely behind her. She approached a room that seemed to have once belonged to a little girl. I let my gaze wander to the door next to it. I'd always assumed that it was Hopper's room, but I was curious. I opened the door and raised an eyebrow at the sight.

There was a lone bed, destroyed like most things in the house. A wooden bookshelf had been tossed on it's side and had books spilling out of it. They were thin books, so that eliminated the possibility of them being more of Hopper's textbooks. Picking one of them up didn't reveal much because it had been torn to shreds.

It was hard to tell what kind of room it was. It was dusty and the walls were cracked and faded like the rest of the house. I couldn't even begin to conjure up a guess about what it was. I put my hand to my chin in thought. I felt a slight headache coming on. Not nearly as bad as before, but still annoying.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when I heard Aelita scream. Tossing the book back into the pile, I ran into the room where the others were. Aelita had backed up against a wall while clutching her head. The others had surrounded her and stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do.

"Aelita?" I called out as she seemed to be calming down. She opened her eyes and blinked at us, still somewhat dazed.

"Aelita, are you ok?" Yumi asked. The pinkette blinked at us a few times before nodding.

"Yes. I mean... I think so," she said hesitantly.

"Did you have another vision?" Jeremy inquired.

Aelita took a few steps forward before nodding. "Yes, but it was different this time. It was as if something or someone were leading me to..." She looked at a poster of a tree on the wall. "There was something in a tree like that one!" She pulled the poster off of the wall. It left dust everywhere as it hit the ground. She reached into a hole in the wall the posted had revealed and pulled out an old doll. "Mister Puck..." she said affectionately and rubbed her thumb against its face.

The others all gave each other puzzled looks. I stared on at the doll in silence.

 **Class**

"So to make the long story short: Aelita's never seen this toy gnome but she's been dreaming about it for days and knows it's called Mister Puck," Jeremy summarized.

"Sums it up pretty well," I said with a nod. I looked down at the faded doll. There was a small tear in one of his seams and he probably needed a cleaning, but he was in otherwise good condition.

"And it's not a gnome, it's an elf," Ulrich corrected.

"Well, whatever it is, this whole story is paranormal," Odd remarked. None of us could disagree with that.

A slender hand suddenly reached down and grabbed the elf. We all gasped amd turned to see Sissi waving it around carelessly by his hat. "Well Aelita, still playing with dolls?"

Jeremy leaped out of his seat and ran over to her. "Sissi, give that back right now!" He jumped up to try and take it from her, but she was holding much to high.

"Here, go fetch!" she exclaimed. She threw the doll high into the air.

"I got it!" I exclaimed. I jumped up to grab it, but was shoved harshly out of the way. I landed on some desks. Let me tell you, landing of a bunch of desks unexpectedly, it hurts! Looking over I found that the perpatrator had been Nicholas.

"A bit of advice: gimmie that toy right now," Ulrich said to him threateningly.

"Uh, what toy?" Nicholas asked innocently. He raised his hands to reveal that he'd passed the doll of to Herb.

"Herb, I dare ya to take your glasses off! Come on!" Odd shouted as he ran towards him, his fists flying. He tried to strike him, but Herb had managed to lean away in time. He threw the doll again. Aelita sprang up and tried to grab him, but Sissi had also managed to grab a hold of him.

The Battle for Mister Puck ended in a tug of war fight that Aelita emerged victorius from. As she pulled him away from Sissi though, a key fell out. Ulrich, acting fast, stomped his foot on the key.

"Uh-uh." He grinned at her triumphantly.

"What is all this noise about!?" Ms. Meyer suddenly yelled as she slammed the door behind her. The other students in class scrambled to find their seats.

Sissi, who'd been trying to pick up Ulrich's foot, finally huffed and gave up. "Fine, you can have it. But only because it's you!" Ulrich silently picked the key up from under his shoe and handed it off to Jeremy before sitting next to me.

"You ok?" He whispered to me. He had noticed I was rubbing my side.

"Not the first time Sissi's been involved in an injury of mine today," I replied with a shrug. He gave me a curious look. "Sissi heard Aelita screaming and decided to berate her about it. She slammed the door open, and unfortunately, the doorstop is still broken from the one time Jeremy opened it for that one XANA alert,"

Ulrich seemed to be able to piece the rest together. He recoiled at the realization. "Ouch." He commented. He then looked over at Jeremy, who was still inspecting the key. "What do you think that thing opens?"

"The damn door in my head..." I muttered tiredly. I was a little too loud though.

"What was that?" Ulrich asked, not quite hearing me. I flinched and fumbled to recover from my slip up.

"I uh, I-I mean, I have no idea," I cleared my throat a bit. Now was a good time to change subjects. "But knowing Jeremy, we're about to find out right about-"

"Hey! A locker! This is a key to a train station locker!" Jeremy abrubtly yelled. I tried to keep my snickering down while Odd cringed behind us.

"Jeremy, I'm listening," Ms. Meyer said, staring at the blond. Jeremy began spouting off some math nonsense, which turned out to be incorrect. "But, that is not the answer to our problem, so zero," Ms. Meyer turned her attention back to the blackboard.

Sissi and her cronies were laughing, causing me to roll my eyes. " _She wishes she could do as well as he does in this class though,"_

 **Train Station**

I glanced up at the train station in amazment. Odd elbowed me to get my attention when the others were walking in.

"No need to stare, Emmy. It's just a train station," Odd said. I shook my head.

"Sorry, I've just never been to one before, that's all." I admitted. Yumi looked back at me somewhat surprised.

"Really? Are trains not a thing in America?" she asked me. I shrugged.

"Sorta, I think. Certainly not near where I live," I said. "I think it's more of a thing in the northeast,"

"Huh, interesting," Odd said. "What's it like over there anyways? I've only ever been once. Someone in my family was living in Boston I think,"

I blinked. "I uh... Maybe given that this is a different world, I can't give you the best answer for that." I scratched the back of my head sheepishly.

Yumi looked back at me as we neared the lockers. "Emily... have you given any thought on how you're going to get home? I can understand if you want to help us fight XANA but... what about after?"

I paused and frowned at the idea. What WAS I trying to do to get home? I hadn't done anything so far! I wanted to fight by the Lyoko Warriors side, but one day, it was going to end. I couldn't stay here forever, could I?

I felt Yumi's hand on my shoulder pull me from my thoughts. "I didn't mean to upset you if I did," I shook my head. It was a good point. We looked over when we heard Jeremy. "Put that on hold for now. It sounds like Jeremy found the locker," I nodded and followed behind her. We surrounded the locker.

"This is it. Would you like to do the honors?" Jeremy asked Aelita. She turned the key and the door popped open. Inside was a black case with the initials F.H.

"Whoa..." Was what we mostly said.

Ulrich noticed the initials first. "F.H? What does that stand for?"

"Fuzzy hands? Fifty-cent hotdog? Fried egg?" Odd suggested. Ulrich and I gave him a look for the last one.

"Regardless of how you pronounce it Odd, egg doesn't start with an H," I informed him.

"Just testing to see if you're on your toes," Odd laughed. Aelita pulled the case out from the locker and opened it up. There were several CD's inside. "Oh wow, music!"

"Certainly not," Jeremy disagreed. He pulled his laptop out of his bag and grabbed a CD. "Let's see what we can come up with... Franz Hopper's diary!"

"Great! Maybe we'll be able to find out more about the Hermitage's mysterious owner!" Yumi threw out. Jeremy nodded, but had a frown on his face.

"For sure, but not right away, everything is encrypted. I'll have to decode it first," Jeremy explained.

"How much time will you need? One, maybe two hours?" Ulrich asked.

"More like one or two years," Jeremy said glumly.

 **That night**

I stared up at the ceiling. My mind was racing with thoughts. No way was I going to be able to sleep. I had no plan on how to get home at all! I groaned and rubbed my nose.

" _I hope that door isn't involved, cause I might kill more than XANA's monsters if that's the case_ ," I sat up when Aelita walked in.

"Oh, you're still up. You're usually asleep by now," Aelita noted as she sat down. I shrugged.

"Just thinking about earlier," I informed her as I laid back down. "What am I gonna do...?"

Aelita smiled weakly at me. "For what it's worth, I'm sure you'll find a way home," she tried. "But, even if you don't, that just means you'll stay with us, right? That doesn't seem so bad,"

I smiled the best fake smile I could muster. "Yeah, I guess so." I said. "Good night, Aelita."

"Good night, Emily," We turned the lights off.

 **Morning**

I groaned when I heard the alarm go off. The night always went by too quickly. As I had anticipated, I hadn't slept much. I was too worried.

"I'm gonna go shower. I'll meet you at breakfast," Aelita told me. I didn't raise my head, but I did give her a thumbs up in acknowledgment. "Try not stay in bed too long or I'll drag you there myself," I heard her laugh as she closed the door.

I groaned and rubbed my still closed eyes. In my sleepiness, I failed to hear a strange sound from above me. I had reached for my glasses when a sudden pain coursed throughout my body.

I fell to the side with a screech, having somehow launched myself off of my bed. My whole body felt numb, like when your leg falls asleep, but they also hurt like hell. I could barely see anything, and that wasn't just because I can't see shit without my glasses. Static was ringing loudly in my ears. My throat felt tight, making it hard to breath, yet I could still scream. I couldn't stop thrashing.

I felt like I was going to die.

And then, just as quickly as it came, it started to fade. The numbness died down before disappearing entirely. I coughed as a gray, almost liquidly ghost like... _thing_ came out of my mouth. I backed away to the furthest wall before it could do me anymore harm. The door slammed open suddenly, allowing Aelita to watchp as the ghost skulked away inside the nearest electrical socket.

My hands were shaking as I looked towards her. "XANA just tried to possess me!" I exclaimed. She gave me a shocked look.

"What!?" She backed away from me a little.

"No, wait," I took a deep, shaky breath to try and calm myself down. "It didn't work. I'm still me. No strange or creepy desire to hurt anyone, much less you," I assured her. She visibly relaxed at that.

"Well, that's good." She paused and gave a look of confusion. "But why wouldn't XANA be able to possess you? That's very strange,"

I knew I had to play along. "I have no idea, but I'm certainly not complaining." I said. I took another deep breath. My hands had finally stopped shaking as I stood up. I ran a hand through my hair. "God... You go on. I'll meet you in the cafeteria and we can talk about this with the others,"

 **Cafeteria**

"Wait, so XANA also sent a ghost after the two of you as well?" I asked as Aelita sat down. "And it failed too?"

"Yeah, it was really weird. A few seconds inside of me and bam! Out it went!" Odd recounted dramatically. "I checked on Ulrich after and it failed too."

"We checked with Jeremy about it, but I don't think he understands either," Ulrich told us. I let out a hmm as I bit into my croissant.

"I'm still sticking with my sex appeal theory. Although... given that a ghost attacked Emily as well..."

"Finish that thought Della Robbia and you're dead," I threatened with a glare.

"Ooh, she's using the last name. That's only a step below the full name. You're in for it now, Odd good buddy," Ulrich said, laughing at his 'good buddy's' expense. Odd rolled his eyes.

"Oh whatever. I don't know why you're offended anyway, it's not like you're interested in anybody anyway." Odd remarked. "Unless you're hiding something from us," He added with a playful smirk.

I raised my hand to stop any more from him. "Enough Odd. Forgive me if I'm not interested in forming a relationship like that with the, ahem, _travel situation_ I'm in,"

"Well, what about in your world? Any crushes there?" Odd pestered.

"Odd..." I started. Aelita put a hand on my shoulder to quell it.

"Odd, enough. If Emily doesn't want to talk about this, then don't force her to," she said.

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry, Emily," Odd said, putting his hands up. I nodded.

"Well hey, look who decided to join us," I then remarked as Jeremy sat down next to us. He said nothing and began poking at his food. "Bad night?" I questioned. He still didn't reply.

"Hey, you gonna eat that?" Odd asked. Jeremy still said nothing, but slid the tray to him. Odd grinned and began hungrily digging into the food.

"What's got you so grouchy this morning?" Ulrich asked, and eyebrow raised.

"Did you find out why Ulrich, Odd, and Emily, couldn't be taken over by XANA?" Aelita asked. Jeremy looked between the two of them and shook his head.

"No I haven't. I didn't have much of time to," Jeremy answered a bit stiffly. Odd shrugged.

"Well, it's nice to see a XANA attack fail for once," Well all nodded, aside from Jeremy.

"Well, who's ready to work up a sweat?" Ulrich asked, looking at the time. I sighed.

"You coming this time, Jeremy? Or are you skipping again?" I asked.

"No, I'm coming this time." Jeremy answered. He gazed towards Aelita for moment. She didn't notice. I raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"Wow, Jeremy in phys ed. This'll be quite the sight," Odd remarked. I rolled my eyes and laughed.

"C'mon, glutton. Time to go,"

 **Gym Class**

"Running is the noblest event in athletics. Except maybe for the long jump, or the shot put, javelin, high jump, polo. Some of you may associate running with cowardice as in running away. Nothing can be further from the truth. He who runs well, goes far." Jim lectured.

We were all sitting beside the track in our gym clothes. I had on my normal gray t-shirt and black sweatpants and was sitting beside Jeremy. I let out a small chuckle and rolled my eyes at Jim's speech. He turned his eyes towards Jeremy and me.

"Jeremy, Emily, let's see how powerful your strides are," Jim said. I gulped as I stood up with him.

" _Running: the noblest of sports and my arch nemesis,_ " I thought. We both stood at the start and waited for our signal.

"For those of you with short memories, let me remind you that uh... what was I gonna say?" Jim wondered for a moment. "Uh, may I remind you that we start when I say go. Not on 'get set' and not on 'ready'. I mean well, after 'ready', 'get set', is when I say go and uh... right!" Jim concluded. I stifled a giggle and looked towards Jeremy, who was staring forward with a blank expression. "On your marks, get set, GO!"

"Ouch!" Jeremy shouted after a second. I stopped myself and nearly fell onto the track.

"Jeremy?" I asked, looking back at him. He was sort of hopping along on one foot.

"What now?"

"I twisted my ankle," Jeremy responded through gritted teeth. Jim was less than impressed.

"Yeah, of course you did. You don't get strong muscles sitting in front of a computer!" he scoffed. "Herb, take him to the infirmary,"

"Jim, would you mind if Aelita came with me instead?" Jeremy quickly requested.

"Fine, go on them. Take him far away from me," Jim said. Aelita quickly stood up and helped the blond hop away from the track. "Carroll! What are you standing there for? I told you to run, so run! One lap, on the double!" I yelped and took off as fast as I could.

Unfortunately for me, I have terrible stamina, so I had to walk the other half of it. A few other girls that Jim had sent after me had caught up and were exhausted as well.

I laid down in the grass next to Odd. "Kill me, please," I requested.

"No time, XANA alert. According to Yumi, he's possessed Jeremy," Odd quickly told me. That would explain his behavior.

"Aw, really? Ok, I've got an idea, just play along," I whispered. I made a fake attempt to sit up before I abruptly went back down, pretending to pass out.

"Jim! Emily needs to get to the infirmary right away, she's not looking to good," Ulrich said. Odd pretended to wake me up and helped me stand up.

"We'll take her, JIm," Odd said. Jim looked at all three of us in exasperation.

"Ok, ok! But make it snappy!" Jim barked. The three of us sped away from the track as fast as we could believably go until we were out of sight.

"Nice job," Odd complimented.

"Thanks, I've had good prior experience," I joked. "Now let's just hope we make it to the factory on time!" I felt my phone buzz. I pulled it out to find Yumi was calling me. We neared the manhole cover.

"What's up?"

"XANA's attacked! We have to stop Jeremy and fast too!" Yumi replied.

"Right, we're on it!" I assured her. "Meet you there," I winced to see that XANA had carelessly tossed the cover into a poor tree. Odd pulled it out and put it back on. And then we were off. One trip through the sewers later, we found ourselves at the bridge.

We found Jeremy carrying Aelita over his shoulder as we swung down. All three of us took a defensive stance. "So, you going down too?" Odd asked jokingly. Jeremy growled at us and dropped Aelita to face us. Purple sparks formed around his fingers.

"Yikes, XANA's really buffed Einstein up," I noticed. I was not looking forward to fighting XANAfied people.

"It's totally weird to be fighting against Jeremy. I mean, I don't wanna hurt him but..." Odd trailed off and ran forward. Jeremy easily threw him to the side into one of the pillars.

I cringed. "But he's not upset about hurting you," I finished for him. I gasped when I found Jeremy in front of me. I tired to send a punch forward, but he grabbed it and punched me in the gut instead. While I was still recovering from having the wind knocked out of me, I was then elbowed to the ground and kicked aside. My glasses almost flew off my face.

Ulrich then tried to kick him, but he ducked out of the way Jeremy then blocked another punch and hit him in the stomach. Ulrich tried to retaliate but winded up getting electrocuted instead. He pushed him away and walked back to the elevator, only to find Aelita was missing.

She'd woken up and was trying to climb back up to the bridge. She'd almost made it too, buch Jeremy was having none of that. He sent a shock through the rope and pulled it down. Aelita was zapped once more and fell into his arms.

I pulled myself up, still in pain, but willing to fight. I readjusted my glasses, but was thrown off when I heard another voice. "Yah!" Yumi yelled, then whacked Jeremy with a wrench she was holding. He wasn't knocked out, but he was stunned enough to drop Aelita. Odd helped me up to my feet and we rushed to join the others. "Quick, we've gotta get to Lyoko!" She pushed the button with herself, Aelita, and Ulrich inside.

"You guys go ahead. Odd and I will handle Frankenstein here!" I assured them. Odd let out a rough growl to attract Jeremy's attention. It worked, and as the elevator went down, Jeremy rushed towards us instead. His fingers were encased in electricity.

"Ok, over here Twinkle Fingers, I have a good feeling the three of us are really gonna hit it off!" Odd jeered.

I ducked before Jeremy could zap me with a punch. "Nope, you hit me once, not happening again!" I exclaimed. I rolled to the side to avoid another.

"Over here, Sparkman!" Odd called. I ducked behind a post to regain my bearings. Odd, unfortunately, happened to be leaning against that post. I could feel the force of Jeremy's punch bend it. "Whoa! I'm sure glad that post was there and not my face!" Odd exclaimed, a grin on his face. "Got any other tricks up your sleeve?" Odd did a cartwheel out of the way to avoid another post.

Unfortunately, he'd had Jeremy hit the elevator panel. "Odd! Just because Jeremy can fix it doesn't mean you get to break it!" I scolded him. He shrugged innocently at me.

"Hey, he's the one that broke it, not me!" Odd defended. All that did was enrage our XANAfied buddy even more. I screeched and rolled away when Jeremy tried to punch me yet again. I growled and tried to sweep him off his legs, but a quick jump from him made sure he avoided that. I then found myself picked up by the collar of my shirt and met face to face with Jeremy.

XANA's symbol had replaced his pupils. I gulped. "You wouldn't hit a girl with gla- ack!" I felt his sparks course throughout my body. He threw me to the side and I landed against the bent post. "Standards: XANA has none." I weakly coughed and glanced at the elevator. " _Things better be going better on Lyoko or we are screwed!_ "

 **Lyoko**

Ulrich, Aelita, and Yumi landed in the Ice Sector without Jeremy's assistance. There was no time to materialize the vehicles, so they were going on foot this time.

"Look, there!" Aelita quickly spotted the tower and they were off. She couldn't help but grin. "He who runs well, goes far!" she said cheerfully. Ulrich rolled his eyes with a chuckle while Yumi gave her an amused look.

"Do Odd and Emily teach you nonsense like that?" she inquired.

"No, as a matter of fact, it's Jim!" she replied with a grin. They continued forward into a large and open area.

"Keep your eyes open. We don't have Jeremy to warn us about monsters this time," Ulrich ordered them. The two girls nodded. They didn't have to run much farther to the tower... or to find XANA's company.

Ulrich stopped them as cracks began forming in the ice. "Uh oh, I don't like the sound of that." He put his hand on the hilt of his saber. They were surrounded by the looks of things. Four Bloks emerged from below.

"Bloks!" Yumi cried. The cracks they'd made faded away as they approached the three Lyoko Warriors. Yumi pulled her fans out while Ulrich unsheathed his saber.

Several seconds went by before one Bloks finally stepped forward and fired. The rest followed suit. Yumi did a quick flip to dodge. She decided to jump to the outside of the circle the Bloks had made. Ulrich stayed with Aelita to help defend her. He hastily deflected a laser from behind. He intended to run forward, but a Blok got the better of him and froze his leg.

Aelita gasped, but Ulrich kept his face strong. He hit the ice several times with his sword, then ran over to defend Aelita again with his sword. He growled. They needed a new plan. "Yumi! Protect Aelita! I'll take care of the Bloks!"

"Right!" Yumi called. She cartwheeled her way back to the pink elf and took over in defense.

Ulrich ran towards two of the Bloks. "Triplicate!" Two doubles of himself appeared by his side. They all jumped into the air. One Blok fired, but failed to hit any of the Ulrichs. He stabbed that Blok in it's eye. "Fusion!' His clones disappeared. " _That's one down. Three to go,_ "

 **Factory**

Odd slid on the floor as he hit the same pillar I had hit. I was leaning on it to regain balance. He glanced up at me, obviously in pain.

"How can you have a decent discussion with someone with no sense of humor?" He asked. I couldn't tell if we was joking or not. I gasped as Jeremy approached again and backed away, trying desperately to come up with a plan. Even if I was only stalling for time, that was better than nothing. "Hey, easy does it!" Odd grabbed a chain and wrapped it around Jeremy's ankle. "Ha ha! Not so clever now, huh?" Odd's question was answered when Jeremy simply ripped the chain apart.

Odd still had enough to swing the chain however. I saw where this was going. "Odd, maybe you shouldn't! Metal conducts-" Too late. He'd already wrapped the chain around Jeremy's hand and been electrocure. "-electricity..." I finished lamely. Odd screeched and let go of the chain.

Jeremy was in front of me again. I ducked under his fist again and went behind him as fast as I could. Before he could turn around, I kicked him behind his knee, forcing his legs to buckle. I then punched him in the cheek as hard as I could. That would take him out for a few seconds at least. I looked at the rope and had an idea. A likely terrible one, but a time buying one, both for us and the others.

"Odd, follow me!" I said to him as I helped him up. We both climbed up a rope as fast as we could. The rope led us to one of the metal beams on the ceiling. Odd seemed to get the idea.

"Hey Sparky! Scared of heights, huh?" Odd taunted. Jeremy's face was expressionless. He picked himself off the ground, then leaped up onto the beam. I gasped.

"You and your fat mouth," I hissed. He said nothing, seeming only capable of backing away with me. Odd tried to climb further, but that was an even worse idea than what mine was. Jeremy bent down and decided to electrify the entire beam. Odd fell to the ground with a scream. I screeched in pain as well and fell to my knees. A glance over at Odd showed me that he was out cold, still slightly twitching and sparking. Jeremy picked me up roughly once again.

More volts were sent through my body before I was tossed aside as well, landing next to Odd. I felt my vision start to cloud. I could barely make out Jeremy going back down to the elevator.

I couldn't keep my eyes open. The pain was too much. I let black overtake my vision.

 **Lyoko**

Yumi did yet another flip to avoid laser fire. She pulled out her fan to block some more heading directly for her. She grunted under the force of them all. "Augh!" Another laser hit her square in the chest. A fan fell from her grasp and she was sent flying back.

"Yumi!' Aelita exclaimed. The Japanese girl was obviously exhausted, but pulled herself up. The Blok was relentless and fired another barrage. Using her only remaining fan, she continued to block, but she failed to noticed another Blok approaching her from behind. Thinking fast, Aelita used her Creativity to create a massive ice rock to keep Yumi safe. And just in the nick of time too. The Blok's laser was about to hit her before the barrier appeared.

"Nice one, Aelita!" Yumi complimented.

Meanwhile, Ulrich was struggling with another Blok. "I'm gonna knock your block off, you dumb blockhead!" Ulrich shouted.

"Sounds like you miss Odd. Your jokes are worse than his," Yumi teased. Ulrich smirked.

"Actually, I was taking inspiration from Emily," Ulrich informed her, then ran forward. He was forced to stop by the onslaught of lasers it kept firing.

Yumi cartwheeled to avoid another blast. She gasped when the Blok changed its face again and started shooting hoops of fire at her. She quickly put her acrobatic skills to use and jumped through the rings as they appeared. After three or four hoops, the Blok stopped. Yumi took the opportunity and threw her fan forward, but she missed. Then, she put her fingers to her temples and telekinetically changed its direction. This time, she hit on target.

"Yeah!" Aelita cheered. Yumi smiled at her.

"That's what I call a job well-" She never got to finish. She looked down at herself in shock as she started to vanish.

"Yumi..." Aelita said softly when Yumi disappeared. She wasn't given time to dwell on it, however, as a Blok began chasing after her. "Ulrich!"

"Hang on!" Ulrich exclaimed. He blocked several more laser blasts. Aelita was almost back by his side when her leg was frozen by the Blok's gel. She looked back at him with a look of fear. "I'm coming! Triangulate!" He surrounded the Blok he was facing off against. The cube monster managed to destroy his clones, but Ulrich himself was fine. He launched himself forward and stabbed the Blok. He glared at the last remaining monster.

He gasped when another monster made its presence known. "The Scyphozoa!" Aelita said fearfully. Before he could even react, Ulrich took a blast to the chest. He could only watch as Aelita was picked up by the horrible, slimy monster.

"Aelita!"

 **Factory**

I coughed as I woke up. I was still in pain, but I couldn't focus on that. Not at that moment. "Odd," I rasped. "I think Jeremy's in the lab,"

Odd nodded and helped me up. "Right. Let's go get him!" We swung back down the rope and went to the elevator.

"How are we gonna get down? XANA busted the button," I pointed out. Odd shrugged and pushed it anyway. The elevator took a second, but started rising back up. I was impressed.

"Maybe Jeremy juiced this thing up enough when he used it to get back down," Odd theorized. I shrugged. We entered the elevator and went down.

When the doors opened, we found Jeremy sitting at the computer, in the middle of devirtualizing Ulrich. I made a tsk sound, catching his attention. He turned to face us. "Jeremy, it's not very nice to devirtualize your best friends," I said scoldingly. XANA was unamused. He grabbed me by my collar and sent be flying back again. Odd got the same treatment. I felt myself get lifted up once again by Jeremy.

I grabbed hold of the hand he was using to hold be in a desperate attempt to get free. It was no use though. His grip was far to strong. I closed my eyes in preparation for the worst. I was completely caught off guard when I heard Yumi and Odd struggling to prevent it from happening. I was dropped and the two of them were thrown to the side. I scrambled to get away, but Jeremy caught me once again. He encased his hand in electricity again. The sparks were bright, wild, and absolutely terrifying. I screamed as I struggled to crawl away. The blank expression on Jeremy's face certainly didn't help.

But right when it seemed bleakest, the XANA symbol in Jeremy's eye disappeared and he slumped forward. I barely registered that he passed out on top of me. I was still breathing heavy.

"Emily!" Yumi and Odd rushed towards me. They pulled Jeremy off of me and helped me up. I was still trembling when Ulrich and Aelita rushed out of the elevator.

"Is everyone alright?" Aelita asked. I could only nod.

It was about five minutes later when Jeremy finally came to. "Well? How are you feeling?" Yumi asked him. He gave us all a confused look.

"Ugh, strange. I remember talking to Odd and Ulrich, and then after that... nothing. Just a black hole." Jeremy told us.

"XANA possessed you," I told him, now finally over my terrified spell. I rubbed a sore spot on my side. "And you certainly gave Odd and me a run for our money." Jeremy was shocked, to say the least.

"He destroyed all of Franz Hopper's CDs. Apparently, he had a problem with his notes," Ulrich said.

"Phew," Jeremy breathed out in relief.

"What do you mean, 'phew'?! It's a disaster!" Odd chided him. Jeremy shook his head.

"No it isn't. Last night, when I got back from the train station, I stopped in here and made a copy of the CDs onto a highly restricted access part of the supercomputer," Jeremy explained to us as he stood up. "I'm the only one who can access them,"

"You're a genius, Jeremy!" Aelita said, giving a thumbs up.

"Still, there's something I don't get. Why couldn't XANA's ghosts take over Odd, Emily, or me, but have no trouble controlling Jeremy?" Ulrich asked.

"I have no idea," Jeremy said with a shrug. I raised a hand.

"I think I've got the answer." Everyone looked towards me. "Well, the lot of us," I motioned to us all, " are used to fighting on Lyoko. That is, except you, Jeremy." I pointed out.

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking. It must give us more resistance to XANA," Yumi agreed.

"Maybe..." Jeremy said. "But then, hoe can we protect me?"

"Hm... I just might have the answer, Odd said. There was a mischievous look in his eye ,and Ulrich shared it as well.

This had to be good.

 **Scanner Room**

The scanners whirred as Ulrich, Odd, and a slightly disheveled looking Jeremy stepped out. "That's the last time I ever set foot onto Lyoko," Jeremy vowed.

"Why? Just because of a couple of Megatanks?" Ulrich questioned. Jeremy rolled his eyes as he entered the elevator with Aelita, Yumi, and me.

"It's really just not my thing. I'll never be able to hack it," Jeremy whined.

"To be fair Jeremy, none of us where good when we started out at this," I reminded him. He folded his arms.

"Y'know, I think I'd rather be possessed by XANA then go back there. I'll just keep on the lookout for ghosts, that's all," Jeremy continued ignoring me. The three of us smirked before looking at Ulrich and Odd.

"Well? What did he look like on Lyoko?" Aelita asked. Odd and Ulrich glanced at each other with huge grins.

"He looked, how... how can I put this tactfully...?"

"Ridiculous," Ulrich answered for him.

"That's the word," Odd agreed. We all laughed. Well, aside from Jeremy of course.

* * *

 **Welp, that one's done! And I finished by 1 AM! Whoo hoo!**

 **Sorry it took so long. I was finishing the school year and such. But now I'm a junior! Yay!**

 **I'll see you all next time!**


	6. Puzzle Pieces

**Oh lord, I'm so sorry about the wait! I've been busy since mid July for various reasons, but mostly school related.**

 **To put it simply: my dumbass put down three AP classes to take. And I'm in band. And precalc.**

 **School is stressful for anyone wondering.**

 **Well, I'm sure you noticed the title is not one of an episode of Code Lyoko. I decided that it was time to try my hand at something original and expand on some things. I admit, it's not an amazing piece of work, but I'm easing myself into this stuff guys.**

 **I'll get better at original stuff eventually, I'm sure...**

 **Ok, more like I really hope.**

* * *

Chapter 6: Puzzle Pieces

I stepped out of the scanner as soon as it opened up. "Another job well done, team" Jeremy praised. Another XANA attack had been neutralized in the Ice Sector by us.

Odd and Aelita stepped out of the other scanners as well. "XANA's getting sloppy lately. That was too easy," Odd said, grinning as he stretched.

"I wouldn't complain if I were you, Odd. I'll take an easy mission any day over some of our other ones," Yumi said.

"And says the guy who had 10 life points left," Ulrich remarked to him. Odd shot him a look.

"At least I was still on Lyoko, which is more than you can say." I stepped in between them.

"Alright, enough. Let's focus on the positive things. Such as tomorrow being Sunday," I reminded them. "And no classes mean..."

"We sleep in!" Odd and Ulrich cheered. Yumi rolled her eyes and laughed at us.

"I swear, you three and your sleep," she chuckled. We all stepped into the elevator and went up to Jeremy. He looked at us as the doors opened.

"And not a bad time tonight. It's only 9:30," Jeremy noted. "We should be able to sneak back in just fine,"

"I certainly hope so. Emily and I were nearly caught by Jim last time," Aelita recalled. I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly. That one had been my fault. Damn mop tripped me.

"Well, as long as there's no mops in the way, we're good," I joked. We hit the button, and up we went.

* * *

 _It hadn't taken me long to fall asleep. That was quite a feat for me. I wasn't very surprised to find myself in front of the door again though. It was becoming more of a regular thing lately. And it was still frustrating as before._

 _I sat down in my usual spot, but I had a different plan in mind this time. "Ok, obviously yelling at the door doesn't work, so I should try to figure out what that 'Key' is supposed to be..." I noted._

 _"Key... Ok, the first thing that comes to mind is Aelita and her key to Lyoko, but she's the one holding that, not me. So that's out." I mused. "Maybe... it's hidden somewhere? But where?" I looked back up at the door in hopes of getting a clue. Nothing of the sort was there. "Friggin' course,"_

 _I rubbed my temple in annoyance. "Ok... where in this world are secrets hidden? Sector 5?" I shooked my head. "If that's the case then I'm really screwed. No way am I gonna be able to get there by myself. Not to mention that only Aelita can access the terminal." I groaned and ran my hand theough my hair. "God, where else can it be hidden then?"_

 _That was when I saw a flash. I blinked and for a split second, I saw the Hermitage. But not the decrepit, old Hermitage. No, it looked like it did in the past. A nice looking house that hadn't yet been torn apart by age or those horrid agents._

 _But what could possibly be hidden there that would help me get some answers?_

 _"The Hermitage? What?" My world started fading. "No no no wait! Give me more answers, please!"_

 **Dorm Room**

I bolted upright in my bed. I looked over at Aelita. She was sleeping soundly with Mister Puck in her grasp. I smiled.

Ever since we found the doll, her nightmares happened less frequently. Yes, she still had some, but it wasn't nearly as often. I squinted at the clock to try and make out the numbers.

"Is that a five...? No, six. 6:34," I whispered to myself. I closed my eyes again, seeing the Hermitage in its former glory again. " _What would I have to do with the Hermitage? That's Aelita's history, not mine."_

I looked at the door and bit my lip. " _I certainly won't find out just sitting here, and I'm still not ready to tell the others..."_ I nodded, filled with resolve and my idea in mind. "It won't hurt to check it out. I'll leave a note in case I'm not back by breakfast," I said to myself. Quietly, I slipped into my usual clothes and grabbed a piece of paper and marker.

 _Had to go do something. I should be back by breakfast. Call me if I'm not,_

 _Emily_

I looked at Aelita one last time before exiting the dorm. The coast was clear. Time to move forward.

 **Hermitage**

It was a little hard to see in the woods, what with it still being dark out and all, but I managed. I knew the way to the Hermitage by heart already from our previous visits. It was very quiet out, though I wasn't complaining. It made it much easier to sneak out.

Dust was sent everywhere when I opened the door. The house seemed like it would be permanently covered in dust and dirt every time we entered it. Nothing was out of place from the last time we were there. I entered one of the rooms.

I looked around, almost expecting to see it in it's former glory, but it never happened. I suppose I wasn't too surprised. I wasn't even sure what I was looking for.

"God, what am I even doing here?" I moaned, running a hand down my face. I was about to turn and leave when a thought struck me. "No... There's something here I need to find, I just don't know what yet," I looked over at the stairs and thought back to the room I saw.

I nodded at nothing in particular. "That's where I'll start,"

 **Dorm Room**

Aelita was somewhat surprised when she didn't hear Emily complain when the alarm went off. Despite changing what played in the morning, her disdain for the device didn't disappear. She smiled at Mister Puck. Holding him really seemed to help out with her nightmares, and she was happy that Emily had suggested it to her.

She was a but surprised to see Emily's bed was empty though. She usually slept in at least a little bit on Sundays. She stood up and found a piece of paper on her pillow, next to one of her Mario plushies she kept on her bed. It was a note.

 _Had to go do something. I should be back by breakfast. Call me if I'm not,_

 _Emily_

Was written in sharpie. She raised an eyebrow. "What could she be doing?" she wondered. She'd call her after she showered. She gathered her things and made her way to the bathroom.

 **Hermitage**

I looked around the torn up room and scratched the back of my head. "What is this room? ...And why do I seem to have such a weird obsession with it now?" I couldn't help but wonder aloud. Maybe because I'd never seen it in the show?

I shrugged it off for now. I could focus on what the room was exactly later. If the house had something to do with the door, that was what mattered more to me at the moment.

I made my way into the room. Sunlight was beginning to stream in from outside, making my life a tad easier. I grabbed a book that didn't seem torn to shreds and quirked an eyebrow at it.

"What is this? A picture book?" I questioned. It was a bit torn up, but still readable. It seemed to be about an old legend involving a dark, ancient dragon and a magic hero who saved the day. "Huh... Seems like something Aelita would be vaguely interested in." I noted. She did like fairytales and such from what I remembered, so it made some sense. There were a few more books that were in the same fantasy genre. Well, at least out of the books that hadn't been lost to time.

"So, what was this? An extra room? But why? I doubt Hopper was expecting any guests given the circumstances he was in," I said. I was about to scratch my head when I noticed that my hands were absolutely caked in dust and dirt from all the things I'd been picking up. "Just great. I keep forgetting how old this stuff is," I wiped my hands off on my jeans.

I was about to stand up when a sudden headache came out of nowhere. I cringed in pain and put a hand to my temple. It reminded me of the last one I had. I just hoped I wouldn't pass out this time.

For a moment, I saw the room differently. The bed was in one piece, the bookshelf sat tall in a corner, and the room was lit from a lamp. I heard the door open, and there I saw Franz Hopper staring at me.

" _I've got something to show you. Follow me,_ " he said. I saw a warm smile on his face as he motioned for me to move towards him.

The vision faded away moments later. I opened my eyes and found that nothing bad changed. I was still in a destroyed room and covered in dust. I let out a shuttering breath as my headache disappeared.

"What the actual hell was that?" I breathed out.

 **Cafeteria**

"Hey, there she is. Morning, Aelita," Odd greeted as Aelita sat down. He, Ulrich, and Jeremy were all sitting at their usual lunch table.

"Where's Emily at?" Jeremy asked, noticing her abscence. Aelita took out the folded note from her pocket and handed it to them.

"'Had to do something'? What does she mean by that?" Ulrich asked. Aelita shrugged as she folded the paper back into her pocket.

"I have no idea. I haven't called her yet, I thought she might've been here already," Aelita answered. She reached for her phone and began dialing the number. That was when a beep emanated from Jeremy's bag below the table.

"Hold that thought," Jeremy said as he reached for the bag. He opened the bag and pulled his computer out. The superscan popped up and showed another activated tower. "Activated tower in the Desert Sector," Jeremy reported, mentally taking down the coordinates. He nodded towards Ulrich and Aelita. "Call Yumi and Emily and tell them to meet us they know where." He slipped the laptop back into his bag and pulled it over his shoulder.

The two nodded.

"Yumi? It's that time again," Ulrich said.

Aelita finished dialing Emily's number and pulled the phone to her ear. "Emily?"

 **Hermitage**

I was still rubbing my temples when I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. I took a deep breath, then answered the call.

"Emily?" Aelita said from the other end.

"Yeah? Is it that late already?" I looked at the sunlight shining through the window.

"Well, yes, but that's not it. XANA's attacking," Aelita explained. "Where are you anyways?"

"I-uh, well," I stammered. "It... it doesn't matter. I'm close to the factory, so I'll meet you guys there,"

"Ok," I could hear she wasn't entirely convinced by my excuse, but there wasn't time to argue.

"Alright, I'm-," I stopped as I stood up. There was something, or maybe someone, behind me. It was a bit hard to tell, since I was looking through a broken mirror in the room. I spun around and found there was indeed someone behind me. Theo to be exact. "Theo? What is he-?" I was silenced when I saw the eye of XANA flash in his pupils. I let out a gasp.

"Emily!? What's happening?" Aelita said, panic rising in her voice. I couldn't speak, I was too scared. Theo raised a hand up crackling with violet electricity.

"I..." I stuttered. Theo gave me blank expression as the lightning leaped from his fingers. I screamed.

 **Campus**

"Emily!? What's happening?" Aelita asked, panicked. Emily stuttered a bit before se let out a scream. "Emily? Emily!" The phone disconnected. She looked at Odd, Jeremy, and Ulrich, who were all staring at her. "I think she's in trouble,"

"Well where is she? Odd or I might be able to go find her," Ulrich suggested, but Aelita shook her head.

"I have no idea. She didn't tell me," she said miserably. She was regretting not being more pushy on that particular subject.

Everyone looked towards Jeremy when he let out a hum. "I may have an idea, but I'll need the supercomputer,"

"Well, what are we waiting for then? Let's go!" Odd urged. The other nodded before taking off to the park.

Yumi ran up to them as they neared the manhole, slightly out of breath. "I got here as fast as I could. Where's Emily?"

"That's what we're afraid of," Jeremy replied grimly. Yumi frowned as Odd pulled the cover off.

 **Hermitage**

I quickly rolled to my left to avoid Theo's sparks, though I dropped my phone in the process. It was caught in the crossfire and completely destroyed by the lightning. I winced from where I sat.

"Man, that's not gonna be easy to replace. You owe me a new phone!" I snapped. I was brought back to reality when Theo launched himself towards me, hands encased in electricity. I did another quick roll past him, making him only hit wall instead. He'd left a small hole that he got his hand stuck in. I quickly turned and swiped at his face, managing to clock his ear pretty good before I ran out of the room. I had to make it to the factory! The others could help me there!

My knees suddenly buckled when they were struck by Theo. I was then shoved down the stairs. My glasses flew off of my face on on of the steps near the turn, then were smashed by Theo. I put a hand to one of my sides as I tried to pick myself back up. I let out a cry of pain, feeling several scrapes and cuts along my body.

I stood up only to be disoriented still and fall down the rest of the few stairs left. I growled in frustration and from the pain I was feeling in my back.

Finally, I managed to pick myself up and started running again. I was unfortunately too late, as Theo had caught up already and slammed into my side, sending me into the living area. Dust was sent everywhere as I landed on some old furniture.

"XANA, you really don't believe in a fair fight, do you?" I questioned. I was met with only a smirk from Theo and him beginning to charge up his lightning again. "No, you really don't," I sighed, then rolled off of the chair and looked towards the window. " _Looks like they're without me today. I just hope they manage before I get maimed out here,"_

I dusted myself off and looked towards Theo. "Alright, you wanna dance? Then let's cha-cha real smooth."

 **Lab**

Yumi, Ulrich, Odd, and Aelita all gazed at the screen intently as Jeremy typed away. The only sounds that filled the room were that of the computer and holomap.

Odd finally decided to break the silence. "What's your plan, Einstein?"

"Well, since we don't know where Emily is, I have to trace her phone to get a general idea of where her location is." Yumi gave the blond a surprised look.

"You can do that?" She asked.

"It's not so hard, given the type of phone she has. It's a little more complicated with the rest of us," Jeremy replied, not looking away from the screen. A map appeared on the screen. "Aha! I've got it. Now let's see where she was last..." Jeremy frowned at the picture. "She was at the Hermitage.' The others gave each other baffled expressions.

"But why would she be there?" Aelita wondered.

"And why would she not want to tell us?" Ulrich asked. Jeremy shook his head and waved the thoughts away.

"We can ask her later, but what matters right now is getting to her so that she's still around to tell us," Jeremy reminded them. Odd nodded at that.

"Right, then I'm off," he decided. He ran into to the elevator and pushed the button before anyone could argue.

"Then that leaves you three on Lyoko duty. Head for the scanners. The tower is in the Desert Sector," Jeremy informed the remaining three. They all nodded and rushed to the ladder. Once in the scanner room, all three stepped inside the scanners. "Transfer, Aelita. Transfer, Yumi. Transfer, Ulrich. Scanner, Aelita. Scanner, Yumi. Scanner, Ulrich. VIRTUALIZATION!"

 **Desert Sector**

The three landed without a problem. Ulrich gripped his saber tightly and began to look around warily, keeping an eye out for XANA's tricks.

"It looks all clear for now, Jeremy," Yumi reported. Jeremy let a 'hm' from above them.

"We all know that can change at a moments notice. Take advantage of the peace while you have it and get going. The tower is northeast from your location," Jeremy explained as their vehicles appeared in front of them.

"Right. We're on it," Ulrich said as he hopped on his Overbike. He glanced at Yumi and Aelita as they climbed onto the Overwing. Once he saw they were ready, the two vehicles sped forward.

 **Hermitage**

I found myself struggling against Theo pretty badly. I'd managed to avoid being tossed around like a ragdoll, but that was about it. We were currently struggling to try and push each other around, with my hands being trapped by his. I let put a growl as I tried to push forward.

" _C'mon! You can't be this strong already! You just gained the ability to possess people!_ " I screamed in my head. I let out a huff before deciding to just knee him where it would hurt the most. It didn't seem to effect him as much as I'd hoped, likely a courtesy from XANA, but it did allow me to break free.

I rubbed my wrists as I frantically looked around for something to use against Theo.

"Emily? Where are you?" I heard Odd call faintly. I blinked in surprise and looked around.

"Odd?- Augh!" I went flying again. XANA decided to take advantage of my momentary distraction and tackled me from behind. I went right through a window and landed in front of Odd. He looked down at me and let out a gasp. He rushed to my side and helped me stand back up.

"What happened!?" He exclaimed. We looked over at Theo when he jumped through the broken window and glared at the both of us.

"Theo decided to dance with me. He's a horrible partner," I weakly joked. Odd grinned at me.

"Then how about I show him some real moves?" He jokingly suggested, taking a defensive stance in front of me. I leaned against a tree that stood behind us.

"Be my guest. But beware: he's not very good at following," I warned him. Odd shrugged off the thought.

"Then he should know I have two left feet." Odd let out a cry and launched himself forward. He was quickly thrown back when Theo blasted him with electricity. "Welp, you weren't kidding," he coughed. I looked at Theo and bit my lip as his gaze went back to me.

 **Lyoko**

The sector was barely buzzing with activity as the group could finally see the tower ahead of them. Aside from the pulsations, there was hardly any indication that XANA had reared his ugly head. Ulrich slowed down a bit, much to the confusion of Aelita.

"What's wrong?"

"We've come all this way and haven't seen a single monster. If that's not fishy to you, then I don't know what is," Ulrich noted, scanning the area.

Everyone flinched then two lasers suddenly flew by from behind them. Yumi looked back and grimaced. "Speaking of fish," she said as three Krabs approached.

Ulrich groaned and turned back to his Overbike and sped forward. "Hey, thanks for the warning, Einstein!" Ulrich berated.

"Hey, I can't do everything at once here!" Jeremy protested. Ulrich shook his head and looked over at the girls.

"You two head for the tower. I'll keep these creeps off you for as long as I can," Ulrich ordered.

"But-"

"We don't have time for anything else! Go!" With that, Ulrich turned to head towards the shelly monsters, his saber out at the ready.

Yuimi shook her head and looked at Aelita. "C'mon, let's go."

Ulrich looked to his right to see a rock that would make for a good ramp. He leaned out of the way to avoid another laser while maneuvering to the rock. He revved up and sped towards it. As he was launched into the air, he jumped off, letting the bike hit a Krab to temporarily stun it. He then looked moved to land on the Krab closest to him.

"Impact!" He exclaimed. He thrust his sword deep into the Krab's shell, right in the eye. He pulled his weapon out and jumped away from the now exploding monster. "That's one." He grunted when he felt a laser connect with his back and fell forward. He rolled to the side to take cover behind a rock before he could be struck again.

He looked back towards the Krabs, eyeing the one closest to him. He unsheathed his saber again and ran from his cover. "Super Sprint!" He ran past laser fire from both Krab. "Triangulate!" Splitting himself into three, he began to run around the Krab as fast as he could. The Krab looked around, confused, and fire at one of the Ulrich's. It was wrong, and gave enough distraction for Ulrich to launch himself in the air and stab the Krab's shell. "Fusion."

He deflected a few blasts with his sword.

"Ulrich! A squad of three Hornets is coming your way!" Jeremy warned him. He made the mistake of glancing up at the three incoming adversaries. The Krab fired at him once again, but hit the samurai's saber, knocking it out of his hand. "No!" Ulrich cried, reaching out for it.

The Hornets spewed their acid around his feet, completely trapping him. The last of his life points drained away and he was devirtualized.

 **Hermitage**

I ducked to avoid another blast from Theo. I rolled over to Odd, wincing slightly from the pain I was in from before. "If you have any ideas, now'd be the time to share em', Catboy!" I urged.

"Uh, well..." He tried. we both then yelped and ducked to avoid a rock that was thrown at us. I groaned.

"I'll take that as a no." I pulled myself off the ground and staggered to my feet. The exhaustion was beginning to get to me. XANA didn't seem to mind though. An evil grin flashed on Theo's face as he rushed forward again.

I grabbed his arm before he could strike me again, then tried to jab him in the gut. I did manage to hit him, but it hardly fazed him. He pulled his other hand from my grasp and grabbed me by my collar. He let some volts course through me before launching me at a nearby tree.

"Ungh!' I let out. An intense shot of pain burst through my head. I put a hand to it and squeezed my eyes shut. " _Not now! This is an incredibly bad time!_ " I felt myself get picked up again, but I couldn't bother to open my eyes. The pain was too much.

"Emily!" I heard Odd shout, but it was faint to my ears.

I felt myself hit the ground before everything faded away from me.

 **Lyoko**

"Ladies, you've got some company," Jeremy boomed. Yumi and Aelita both looked back to see both a squad of Hornets and a Krab trailing after them.

"We see them, Jeremy," Aelita replied, nervously glancing at the tower, which was still quite a ways off. Yumi reached back and pulled one of her fans out.

"Get ready to jump," she informed her. The elf nodded and braced herself. A few lasers fired off from behind them, one hitting the Overwing. The two girls leapt off the vehicle in two separate directions.

 **Lab**

Jeremy bit his lip as Ulrich approached in the lab. Things were always worrisome in with their missions. There wasn't a lot he could do other than warn everyone of the dangers that approached.

Odd's number appearing on the screen pulled him out of his thoughts. "What's up, Odd?"

He heard Odd let out a yelp as he seemed to move out of the way of something. "Uh, I hate to rush you guys, but could you speed things up a bit?" Odd requested. He seemed out of breath. "Emily kinda got knocked out maybe five minutes ago and hasn't woken up, and trying to fight a XANAfied guy on my own isn't exactly easy." Ulrich gave Jeremy a nod before heading back into the elevator.

Jeremy gulped and turned his attention back to the screen. "Aelita, Yumi, you might consider picking up the pace?"

"We'll try to, but it's no cakewalk out here," Yumi assured.

 **Lyoko**

Yumi did a twirl as she dodged the lasers being fired around her. Her fans took most of the force of the blast as the Hornets surrounded her. She could see Aelita running as fast as she could towards the tower out of the corner of her eye.

"Hiyah!" she exclaimed as she threw her fan out. It managed to hit one of the Hornets. She smirked. "Just like swatting flies," she quipped. She let out a cry when she was hit in the arm. The Krab had finally caught up. She pulled her second fan out and began to flip and cartwheel over to a nearby rock for cover.

Seeing that Yumi would be occupied enough by the killer shellfish, the Hornets decided to move on and chase after Aelita, who was close to the tower. She let out a gasp when she heard their buzzing right behind her. She took off, no longer going in the direction of the tower. She was headed for a rock formation a little west of the tower to try to lose them in there.

Yumi looked back over from behind her cover. "Oh, not now!" She uttered. She focused back on the monster in front of her. Deciding to bring back a favorite game of hers, she whistled. "Come here, Krabby. I'm here, right for the blasting," Yumi smirked when she heard the Krab begin to shuffle over to her. Stealthily, she slid over to the other side of the rock as the shellfish approached, being sure to remain unseen. "Yohoo? Looking for me?" She teased.

Almost as if it were surprised, the Krab looked up at the call. Yumi, now standing on top of the rock, smirked. "Hiyah!" The fans sliced into the monster before it could react further. She caught her fans as she jumped down.

"Good job, Yumi." Jeremy praised.

"Thanks, but now it's time to play catch up," Yumi noted, seeing Aelita running from the Hornets in the distance. Without wasting another moment, she took off in the same direction.

Aelita meanwhile, made the mistake of glancing back. She let out a yelp and ducked her head when several lasers went off, keeping here right where XANA wanted her. She gasped when she was forced to stop. There were rocks all around her, and with the Hornets in front of her, she had little chance of escape. She backed up fearfully against a rock. She had a bad feeling she knew what was coming next.

Her suspicions were proven correct when a distorted cry rang out from behind her. She stiffened and her breath hitched. "Jeremy..."

"I heard. Yumi is on her way. Just hang on," Jeremy tried to assure her. The blond bit his lip as he turned his focus back on Yumi. "Yumi, the Scyphozoa's got Aelita right where XANA wants her. Move!" The Japanese girl let out a grunt in acknowlegement.

Catching up proved to be difficult, even with the current lack of monsters prancing about. Aelita had managed to make it decently far into the rocky passage. She could see the the slimy seeming monster in her view now, holding up Aelita with its tentacles. She ducked back behind the rock before the Hornets could spot her.

"It's now or never," she muttered. She pulled her two fans out before running out from hed cover. "Yah!" She threw both fans. One cleanly sliced the tentacles that jad beem draining Aelita's memory. The pinkette fell to the ground with a thud. The Scyphozoa let out a long cry as it backed away, it's sliced tentacles dangling uselessly at its sides.

The other fam caught the Hornets by surpise. They were cut into before even being able to react. All but two Hornets were taken out this way.

Yumi ran over to Aelita to help her back on her feet. "You alright?"

Aelita nodded. "Yes, I'll manage,"

"Right. I'll take care of the last of these pests, you head for the tower," Yumi instructed. She pointed at narrow opening in the rock formation to their left. Aelita nodded and ran forward, slipping through the go before the Hornets could give chase.

She didn't look back once. The towet was right in front of her now. She ran inside.

* * *

 _I groaned and put a hand to my head. I wasn't in pain, but I was feeling more than a little dizzy as I sat up. I blinked when I felt a familiar weight on the bridge of my nose. My glasses were back. The injuries I had were gone too._

 _"What the hell is going on?" I wondered aloud. I looked around, then my face fell. I was back in front of the door. "Oh fantastic. I'm unconscious again. Of all the fucking times..." I swore to myself. "Odd better not do anything stupid," I muttered, leaning against the door, my arms crossed._

 _You can imagine my surprise when the door moved ever so slightly. I jumped up and looked back at it._

 _It looked liked it hadn't even budged. I frowned. "Did I imagine that or-" Then, I noticed a small streak of light coming from the door. It was barely there, but it was something. I leaned forward to investigate._

 _The door was ever so slightly cracked open. I put an eye up to it to inspect it. The world around me grew bright, forcing me to cover my eyes. When I uncovered them again, I found myself back at the Hermitage. And not the creepy, decrepit house of now. No, it was when it was in a liviable state. When it was being lived in._

 _I looked around, surprised to find I was back in the room where I'd started from._

 _"What the-"_

 _"I've got something to show you. Follow me," I heard Hopper say from the door again, the smile still on his face._

 _I was hesitant, but found myself compelled to follow him. As soon as I opened the door, I could see Hopper's head disappearing down the stairs. "Just what is going on around here anyways?" I whispered. I continued to follow the man when a though struck me._

 _What if that wasn't Hopper?_

 _XANA would use this trick on Aelita, but who was to say he wouldn't use it on me now? "_ But does he even know that I know Hopper? _" I wondered, keeping my mouth shut. If the damn AI didn't know that, I'd have rather kept it that way._

 _I reached the bottom of the stairs and looked around cautiously. I could see Hopper sitting on the seat in front of his piano. It was truly astonishing how bad the house would look in 10 years time. I flinched when he turned back and looked at me._

 _He patted a seat bext to him. "Come on now, I know you know I don't bite," he said. I gave him a curious look. There was something about him that once again compelled me to comply with his request. I took a seat next to him and gazed at him. It was hard to get a read on him with his thick glasses covering most of his face._

 _I jumped a bit when he started playing a very familiar tune. Twinkle twinkle, or at least, something similar. I watched as his fingers danced along the keys. He made it look so simple._

 _He suddenly stopped and looked at me. "Come on, you know you want to try it." He gestured to the white keyes in front of me._

 _I gave him a baffled look. "Sir, what on earth are you-"_

 _"I never said it had to sound good. Come on, give it a shot," he continued as if he never heard me. My confusion never faded. I shook my head and decided to humor him. I reached forward a d pressed the key closest to me. Heck if I knew what note it was though. I saw the man smile and nod at me. "Yes, that's it"_

 _He suddenly faded away. It all did. The Hermitage disappeared from around me. I leapt up in surprise. The door appeared back in front of me, creaking shut when it did._

 _"No, don't do that!" I begged. The light that once barely seeped in was gone. I groaned. "And to think I maybe could've gotten some-"_

 _"Answers? I'm afraid not?" I heard an echoing voice echo. "Until you've found the Key, I'm afraid your questions will only lead you to more questions." The voice was familiar... It was the voice that initally told me the cryptic message that led me here!_

 _"Who are you!? And what the actual hell is going on!?" I asked. A chuckle rang out._

 _"All in due time, child. All in due time,"_

 _It was then when white decided to engulf the world,"_

 **Cafeteria**

I poked at my food in an uninterested way. I was hardly hungry, not after all the confusion that was what had just happened. I looked up to find the others', sans Yumi' and their gazes all on me.

I sighed. "You're all making this more uncomfortable than it needs to be. If you have a question, then ask." Four hands all shot up. I rolled my eyes and pointed at Jeremy first.

"Why on earth were you at the Hermitage?" He asked sharply.

"What was so important that you couldn't tell us?" Ulrich asked.

"Were you looking for something there?" Aelita followed.

"Are you gonna eat that?" Odd asked, eyeing my tray. I wordlessly pushed it towards him and looked at the others. I tried to hide it, but I was pannicking. I hadn't thought of a plausible excuse. I was a little too busy being beaten by XANA and then confused by a door.

"I uh... Yes, I was looking for something," I decided. A glance at Aelita gave me a sudden spark of an idea. "I was... I was trying to help out in the search for Aelita's antivirus!"

Jeremy's face turned to one of confusion. "What?"

I rubbed the back of my neck. "I dunno. I've just been feeling useless lately on the team. I wanted to help out in some way. I thought maybe there'd be something you missed of Hopper's that could help,"

"Ok, that's all fine and well, but why did you hide that from us?" Ulrich inquired, a somewhat suspicious look on his face.

"Uh, well... I'm not sure actually," I said. I gripped the ends of my sleeve from under the table. "I admit, it wasn't my brightest move,"

"We appreciate the sentiment, Emily, but you shouldn't feel so useless on the team. We've all saved each other plenty of times," Aelita assured me. I gave a small smile, silently thanking whatever higher power that was letting me get away with the lie.

"What made you think to do that anyway? Ulrich, Odd, and I have looked in almost every place of that house and found hardly anything worth noting," Jeremy said. Both of the other boys nodded at that.

"Well, we found Mister Puck in a wall because of Aelita's visions. Who's to say there aren't other things hiding around?" I replied with a shrug.

"Hm, I doubt it. But, we can all go looking together after breakfast if you'd like," Jeremy suggested.

"Sure, why not?" I gazed out the window and towards the forest where the Hermitage was hiding. " _I should tell them... But I'm not ready. I can hardly make sense of this myself."_

My predicament had just become a whole lot more confusing.

* * *

 **Ugh, this was a mess, but it looks kind of how I wanted it to. I feel like I've revised it a million times, so doing it anymore would just delay this even further. And yes, this is why the wait was so damn long: because planning this out was a pain in the ass. I won't hold it against you if you didn't like this one as much or if you think it wasn't worth the wait.**

 **This week has been hell so far, but I'm pushing through. Again, I apologize for the quality, but at least I tried.**

 **I promise Saint Valentine's Day is next, and hopefully that'll be better executed. See you then.**


	7. Saint Valentine's Day

**First and foremost, I want to thank everyone for their kind words to my first attempt at a completely original chapter. Given how much of a mess it seemed to me, I'm glad you enjoyed it. It helps me see that I CAN do more original work.**

 **Expect an announcement on that project I've mentioned in the past soon. It's not anywhere near completion in terms of chapter ideas, but the general plot is in stone.**

 **Saint Valentine's Day is another one I've always enjoyed. Well, no, I don't like seeing the group bicker over petty relationship problems, but it's a nice episode overall. The Lyoko bits are really what shines here. Aelita almost taking down Yumi, keeping Ulrich from getting to her, and freezing Odd in place shows just how strong she can be. Ok, fine, XANA did that, but it was Aelita's powers. She has great potential in her creativity if she can harness it effectively.**

 **And Aelita is possessed for the first time! Oh no!**

* * *

Chapter 7: Saint Valentine's Day

"No... No, let me go!" Aelita begged as she tossed in her sleep. A sudden beeping sound pulled her out of her not so sound slumber. She sat up with a surprised look on her face. The room was still dark; a glance at the clock showed her it was only 2:27 AM. She gazed over at Emily and couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

Emily was sprawled out across her bed with her blanket intertwined with her body and holding a small Mario plushie. She shook her head while quietly laughing to herself. She then glanced over at her computer. To her surprise, it had turned on. She quietly got up, being careful as to not wake up her slumbering roommate. She sat in the chair and turned the screen on. A bright pink, smiling face bounced on the screen. She blinked in surprise.

She clicked on it with a curious look. It jumped up and turned into a pink present wrapped neatly in a bow, also pink. Then, there was a knock at the door. She jumped at the sound.

" _Who could that be at this hour?_ " she wondered. It was barely 2:30. No one was supposed to be up at the moment. She quietly opened the door and peered into the hall, but no one was there."What could-" she cut herself off when she noticed a box laying at her feet. Quizzically, she glanced around once more as she picked it up.

She closed the door and sat back down on her bed, staring at the package. She tore the wrapping off and opened the box to find a pink, slightly translucent necklace. " _What?_ " She couldn't help but be confused. Why would anybody give her a present, let alone at two o'clock in the morning and not take credit for it? She gazed over at Emily once again. " _I'm going to have to ask a few questions in the morning._ " She sent a quick text to Yumi, asking her to meet her before class tomorrow, then laid back down.

 **First Person POV**

I sat up with a yawn as I heard the alarm go off. The nights always seemed to go by too quickly. "Morning, Aelita," I said somewhat sleepily. She nodded and hummed at me, seeming to be focused on something else. I fumbled for my glasses. When I could see properly, I noticed there was a small, opened package sitting on the desk at the foot of Aelita's bed. Aelita, already dressed, was holding onto something small with a string attached to it.

Before I could even ask, there was a knock at the door. I scrambled to get up and opened the door. You can imagine my surprise when Yumi was there. "Oh, uh, hi Yumi. Come in." I opened the door further to allow her entrance.

"You wanted to talk, Aelita?" Yumi asked, looking towards the pinkette. Aelita nodded, making me tilt my head.

"What's all this about?" I asked as I closed the door. "Is something wrong?"

"No, not exactly. It's more confusing than anything else." Aelita held out the item she'd been holding. It was a small, spherical, pink necklace that had a strange shine to it. "There was a knock at the door last night, and this was the only thing in front of the door." Yumi took the necklace from her and inspected it.

"Hm, a little plain, but not bad," Yumi noted. I raised and eyebrow and took the necklace myself for inspection.

Holding it gave me a very... uneasy feeling. A sort of weak current went through my arms and made the hair on them stand straight. Certainly didn't held that it had this weird reflection thing going on in it. I gave a weak smile and handed it back to Aelita. "Eh, jewelry's not my thing. No note left with it?" I asked, ignoring the feeling as best I could.

Aelita shook her head. "No, nothing. I wonder who gave it to me, and why?" She inquired. I frowned, then looked at Yumi. The raven haired girl had a smirk on her face.

"I might have an answer to that. Do either of you know what day it is?" Yumi asked. Aelita glanced over at our calendar.

"Um, Tuesday?" She guessed. Yumi raised an eyebrow at me.

"Oh come on, Emily. Aelita not knowing I get, but you?" She said lightly. I blinked at her, then gave a slightly miffed look.

"I woke up like, five minutes ago. Give me some credit for being this coherent right now," I said. Yumi let out a laugh and shook her head.

"You are right, but it's not just any Tuesday," Yumi said, focussing back on Aelita. Seeing the lost look on her face, she finally explained: "It's Saint Valentine's Day! The day all lovers celebrate!"

I let out a groan and face palmed. "Seriously, that's today? Ugh,"

"Lovers?" Aelita questioned.

"Yes, I can guess exactly which boy might want to give you a present, can't you?" Yumi teased. Aelita let a faint smile appear on her face and looked at the necklace in her palm.

She looked over at me, looking for a topic change. "Do you not like Valentine's Day?"

"I only ever vaguely liked it because of the candy bags my parents would give my brothers and I. I certainly don't go out of my way to spoil the fun for others, but the idea of a day dedicated to all of the romantic crap I don't get just isn't for me."

"Eh, the holiday isn't for everyone," Yumi said with a shrug. "Was that all you wanted to know?"

Aelita nodded. "Yes, thank you, Yumi." The Japanese girl gave a friendly wave as she exited the room.

"See you around." The door closed, leaving the two of us alone again. Aelita looked at the necklace again before pulling it over her head.

I smirked at I began to change into my day clothes. "It certainly goes with your outfit, that's for certain,"

 **Arches**

Not long after changing, Aelita and I made our way down the stairs. She had quite the pep in her step, making it difficult to keep up with her. "Jeez, could you slow down a bit?"

"Sorry, I just want to find Jeremy so I can thank him properly," Aelita said sheepishly, a blush appearing on her face. I rolled my eye good naturedly. I looked ahead and grinned.

"I spy with my little eye, a nerd wearing blue and glasses," I said, pointing ahead. Aelita practically pulled my arm out of its socket as she grabbed my hand and ran forward. "Whoa! Aelita-"

Odd seemed to notice us as we ran toward them, seeing as he pointed at us. We came to a halt in front of them. "Thanks, Jeremy," Aelita said.

"You know, the first time I see someone in the morning, I tend to say, 'good morning'," Ulrich snarked.

"Eh, maybe you're a bit old fashioned there, Ulrich," I commented, rubbing my shoulder.

"For the necklace, thank you," Aelita explained, looking down at it again.

Jeremy looked surprised. "The uh, necklace?"

"Your Valentine's Day present. It's lovely,"

"Uh, yeah um... You're welcome! It's only natural," Jeremy decided on saying, though it was a bit awkward.

"Well... see you in history class," Aelita said, the blush appearing on her cheeks.

"See you, Aelita!" Jeremy said a little too quickly. The pinkette walked off, humming quietly to herself. I turned back to the boys, quirking an eyebrow.

"You didn't give it to her, did you?" Ulrich asked, The look on his face told me he already knew the answer.

"Was it that obvious?" Jeremy deflated a little.

"Yep," I nodded.

"But luckily for you, love has made Aelita blind," Ulrich teased.

"Oh, come on Ulrich," Jeremy protested. Ulrich merely smiled. "Emily, you were there. Any ideas on who could've given it to her?" he then asked, looking towards me.

"Oh, I have no idea. I was out like a light when she said she got it. It was in the middle of the night." I explained. The blond genius frowned at that.

"But who would've given her a necklace in the middle of the night...?" He wondered. Did I sense some jealousy in his tone?

"Who knows. Maybe Aelita has a secret admirer," Odd suggested with a shrug. Jermey gave him a look of disbelief. Jeremy seemed a bit perurbed by the idea, but said nothing.

"Er, you won't tell Aelita it wasn't me that gave her the necklace, right?" Jeremy then asked me hesitantly. He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"And spoil her first Valentine's Day? Nah. I'll only do it if there's evidence of whoever the real gift giver is." I assured him. The bell rang. "Time for our daily dose of history."

 **History Class**

I didn't know that the history behind Valentine's Day could be so utterly boring. I was sitting towards the front of the class with Aelita. The boys were further back in the room. I was vaguely paying attention, taking down some important names and the such. I didn't care too much, I was already passing with flying colors in the class.

I gazed to the necklace around Aelita's neck once again. " _Still, I have to wonder who would've given Aelita such a gift. It doesn't look cheap,_ " I noted to myself. For the short time I'd held it, it didn't feel like plastic either. Glass was more likely. I jotted a view more notes down when Mr. Fumet looked at our table.

" _Then again, I'm a terrible judge in the worth of jewelry, so who knows. Maybe it WAS just a secret admirer for all I know,"_ Still, something about that conclusion seemed... off. Aelita didn't exactly interact with many people outsodenour group. But that didn't mean no one could've liked her from afar. " _Gah, this is making my brain hurt. Since when have I ever cared about Valentine's Day presents anyway?_ " I smirked. " _I'm getting sappy. I swear-"_

"You just said it was you!" Jeremy suddenly exclaimed, standing in his chair. Odd, who was next to him, sent him an annoyed expression.

"Hey, have you gone bananas?! Your eyesight's not great, but your hearing's worse!" Odd shouted back.

"I-" Mr. Fumet cleared his throat, catching the two boys attention. The whole class was staring at them, including Aelita and I.

"If you have more important subjects to discuss than today's lesson, I suggest you do so in the principal's office!" He pointed towards the door. The two silently walked out, giving each other miffed looks. "Ahem, back to what I was discussing.." And, back to ignoring him I went. I felt a poke at my side. Aelita shifted her eyes to her notes. I read a small note in the margins.

 _What's with them today?_

I quickly wrote back in my notes. _No idea. They were fine when I talked with them earlier_.

I quickly erased the note was Mr. Fumet walked by, making it seem like I was fixing something I wrong. Aelita gave me a concerned look. I mouthed, 'Later', to her, and that was the end of that.

 **After Class**

Aelita, Ulrich, and I walked out of the classroom alongside the many other students. I noticed Aelita rubbing her eyes and letting out a muffled moan of irritation.

"You alright?" I asked in concern. She nodded her head.

"Yes. Just a bit tired," she answered. "I'm... I'm going to go to the bathroom. See you later." She walked away from Ulrich and I. Yumi passed her as she left and offered her a smile, which she then extended to us.

"Hey you two. Where's Odd and Jeremy?" She asked us.

"The principal's office. They got into some argument. Speaking of which..." I turned to Ulrich. "You were closer to them. What were they fighting about?"

"Jeremy's convinced Odd gave Aelita the necklace, and Odd didn't outright deny it," Ulrich explained, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"In other words: our resident Einstein isn't acting so smart when it comes to jealousy." I thought aloud.

"You mean, it wasn't Jeremy who gave her the necklace?" Yumi inquired. We both shook our heads. "Oh. When she showed it to me this morning, I was sure it was him,"

"It was a fair assumption. Look, here he comes now." I pointed at the blond in question approaching us, a scowl on his face and a slip of paper slightly crumpled in his hand. "So?"

"Two hours detention," Jeremy responded curtly. He sat down on the bench next to me.

"Where's Odd?" Yumi asked.

"How should I know?" Jeremy replied.

"C'mon, Einstein, it's stupid to fight over such a little thing," Ulrich told him.

"He's right. What's more, Odd has every right to give Aelita a present of he wants to," Yumi agreed.

"See, this is why I don't like Valentine's Day. When there's not sappy crap going on, there's petty relationship problems," I muttered.

"Uh, Ulrich? Could I talk to you for a second?" Sissi then said, having approached us while we were talking.

Ulrich gave her a distrustful look. "Well, only if it's really important," he decided. He raised an eyebrow when she revealed an envelope in her hand. "For me? ...Is this for Valentine's Day?" He cautiously asked. One look at Yumi's face told me that she was not so excited about this development.

"No, it's for Christmas," Sissi quipped with an eyeroll. "Of course it's for Valentine's Day, what do you think, hm? Come on, open it, stupid!" Ulrich tore open the pink enevlope and pulled out a red sheet of paper.

"Wow! A ticket to the Subsonic's concert!" Ulrich gasped.

"Isn't that your favorite group?" Sissi asked, a sly smile on her face.

"Well, yeah," Ulrich responded.

Yumi scoffed. "I must be dreaming," she muttered.

"Yumi," I turned around to see William standing there, holding a bouquet of flowers. "I've got something for you." He gave her a small smilenas she took them from them.

"O-oh. Well, thank you, William," she replied kindly.

"I must be dreaming," Ulrich echoed. I saw him reach into his pocket to pull out a piece of paper.

" _Oh, please don't,_ " I silently begged, having a good idea of where this was going.

"Sissi, I wrote you a little poem," Ulrich said. Yumi looked over to him in surprise.

" _God damit Ulrich_ ," I rubbed my temple. " _I'm surrounded by love driven morons,_ "

"To tell you how much I flip

If not with a tulip

I'm a victim of your charm

And long to hold you in my arms

With you I never fell gloomy

My little... Sissi," Ulrich finished. Jeremy and I made a face at each other.

"Oh, Ulrich, it rhymes! It's so beautiful!" Sissi gushed. Yumi glared at him.

"William! You bouquet is beautiful, how did you know that I liked roses?" Yumi asked stifly.

"I didn't, but I figured were like all the other girls," William answered bluntly. The look of shock on Yumi's face, I have to admit, was priceless.

"How romantic," Ulrich laughed.

"Just a bit awkward. Thank you, William. You couldn't have made me happier." She reached up and pecked him on the cheeck. Jeremy had a smirk on his face as soon as the two left.

"Look, it's ridiculous to fight over such a puny thing. William had every right to give Yumi an present, and so did Sissi with Ulrich, right?" Jeremy looked to me for affirmation.

I rolled my eyes. "I think you're all idiots today," I said.

"I don't think either of you are ones to talk right now," Ulrich stated. Jeremy frowned, then looked around.

"By the way, does anybody know where Aelita is?"

 **Girls Bathroom**

Aelita rubbed her eyes again as she walked in. She had been feeling a bit strange ever since about halfway through history. She made her way over to the sink and stared her her reflection.

Her skin felt on edge. There was a buzzing noise echoing throughout her head. It had started off as a dull sound that Aelita thought might have just been a noise in the classroom, but it got progressively louder and more difficult to ignore, leading her to belive otherwise.

The necklace had an almost eerie glow to it now that she lookednat it again. She shook her head. She was fine, just tired. She turned the faucet on, splashing some water on her face. Suddenly, fhe buzzing was unbearable. She groaned and held her head.

A tingling sensation went from her hands to her head.

And suddenly, her world was dark.

 **Science class**

"Hey, Emily," Aelita caught my attention as I took a seat.

"What's up?" I asked.

She looked around, then in a low whisper, said, "I need to go to Lyoko,"

"What?"

"I think I may have made a breakthrough with research for my antivirus. If I'm right, Sector 5 will have everything I need right there," Aelita said.

"Really? What makes you so sure now?" I questioned. "And does Jeremy know?"

"Oh, I'd explain it to you, but I know how bored you'd get with it. As for Jeremy, I'm going to tell him before class starts," Aelita replied. "Do you want to go with me?"

"Alright, sure. I'm in as long as Jeremy's in," I nodded. I failed to notice the smirk on Aelita's face as Odd sat next to me.

"Alright, settle down, and take your seats," Ms. Hertz said as the bell rang. Jeremy took a seat next to Aelita. "Please open your textbooks to page 27, the anatomical structure of muscles,"

"What's with everyone today?" I couldn't help but ask Odd.

"What do you mean?"

"First Aelita gets that necklace, making you and Jeremy fight, which I'm not saying wasn't justified given your side of the argument, and then Yumi and Ulrich got into a contest of sorts after William and Sissi each gave them a present," I explained. "Everyone's lost their common sense today,"

"Well, don't you know? Love makes people go bananas," Odd said with a smirk. "And I'd say that applies to most people today. Well, aside from you,"

"There's a true statement,"

"Augh!" Jeremy screeched as he fell from his seat, looking somewhat disheveled. Aelita gave him a sheepish expression as the class laughed at the sight.

"Jeremy! I expect better from you! If you of all people believe my classroom is a playground, then perhaps you should go ask the principal to send you back to kindergarten!" Ms. Hertz chided. Jeremy bowed his head and walked out.

"A very true statement, evidently." My eyes wandered back to Aelita. She turned back to face the front.

 **Later**

The bell seemed to take forever to ring. As soon as it did though, Aelita practically ran me over as she approached me. "Whoa there, take it down a peg," I told her.

"Sorry, I just would really like to get to the factory," Aelita explained.

"Er, not that I'm complaining that you've figured out the answer or anything, but don't you think this is rather... Sudden? Did the answer just come to you or something?" I asked.

"Well, uh... Look, here comes Yumi!" She pointed behind me. I turned to find the girl in question approaching. She glared a bit as Ulrich walked by. Odd, who was walking away with the brunette, gave him a confused look and began to pester him with questions as they went out of sight.

"Hey. Where's Jeremy?" She paused for a moment. "There's a familiar question. Don't tell me he-"

"Yep. In the principal's office again." I answered. She rolled her eyes. "Hey, since you're here, wanna help Aelita and I in a little trip to Lyoko?"

"Huh?"

Aelita, who I swear frowned for a split second, said, "I think I may have found the key to my antivirus. It should be in Sector 5 if I'm right,"

Yumi didn't seem convinced. She looked at Aelita again, seeming look deeply into her. She clicked her tongue in thought. "Just the three of us?"

I nodded. "Considering how Odd and Jeremy are getting along right now, and you and Ulrich, yeah." I stuffed my hands into my jacket pocket, fiddling with some loose strings. "A simple Sector 5 mission. You in?"

After a moment, she finally nodded. "Alright. I'm in," she affirmed. I grinned and gave her a thumbs up.

"Great. Let's go tell Einstein. After the day he's had, I'm sure some news like this'll be good for him,"

 **Boys Dorm**

We found Jeremy about to enter his room, another detention slip in hand. Jeremy looked up when he saw the three of us.

"Yumi agreed to go with us to Lyoko," Aelita told him cheerfully. Jeremy looked at her. She gave him a small smile.

He shook his head. "After everything that's happened today, it'll be nice to get something accomplished." He set the detention slip on his nightstand, grimacing at it. He shook it off, turned around again, and nodded at us.

It was go time.

We made our way to the manhole and opened it up. A quick ride down the sewers, then up to the bridge. We all swung down the ropes and walked into the elevator, making a stop for Jeremy at the lab.

The doors opened again to reveal the scanner room. 'Ready ladies? I'm starting up the process," Jeremy called from above. We each got into a scanner.

"Ready for it, Einstein," I replied.

"Alright. Transfer, Yumi. Transfer, Emily. Transfer, Aelita. Scanner, Yumi. Scanner, Emily. Scanner, Aelita. VIRTUALIZATION!"

In the lab, another tab showing Aelita's avatar popped up. "Hey, that's weird," he noted. There was an error supposedly messing with her Lyoko form, but what could that be? "Hm..."

 **Lyoko**

The three of us landed in the Forest Sector. A quick glance showed that none of XANA's monsters were near, at least, for now. Yumi and Aelita were both accounted for as well.

"Vehicles for the ladies coming right up. Materialization." Right as he said it, the Overboard, Overwing, and Overkart appeared. "You need to go due east to get to the edge of the sector,"

"No way, I'm heading north," Aelita said matter of factly. Yumi and I shared a confused look.

Jeremy was just as confused. "But... I don't understand. You're supposed to go to Sector 5."

"Sorry, Yumi," Aelita suddenly apologized. Before we could question her, Aelita sweeped Yumi's legs from underneath her. Then, while she was falling, she kicked her in her side, sending her flying into a nearby tree and knocking her out.

I gasped and quickly grabbed hold of my staff and pointed it at her. She gave me a smirk. Aelita then jumped up and kicked me in the gut. My staff went flying out of my hands as I fell to the ground and onto my back. I let out a gasp of pain, clutching my stomach. I could only watch as Aelita ran over to the Overboard and hopped on. As she'd said, she took off to the north.

"Yumi? Emily? Aelita!? What's going on!?" Jeremy exclaimed. "Can you two ear me? Are you ok?" I groaned as I forced myself to sit up.

"Never been better," I said through gritted teeth. Yumi sat up and rubbed her head.

"I'd be lying if I said I was. What has gotten into her?" She asked.

"I don't know, she's lost it!" Jeremy declared. I stood up and hopped into the Overkart. Yumi made her way to the Overwing. "You two have absolutely got to stop her. She's headed due north.

"We'll try, Jeremy, but some backup would be much appreciated," I requested.

"I'm on it," he assured us. Minutes went by, but it felt more along the lines of hours. Soon enough, the rogue elf was in our sights.

"Ok, Jeremy, we can see her,"

I gripped my wheel tightly as I zipped across the land beside Yumi. "Somehow, I get the feeling XANA is involved in this all,"

"I wonder... Emily, you said Aelita found the necklace by your doorstep, right?" Jeremy asked.

"Yeah."

"Do you think XANA could've put it there?" Yumi asked.

"I'm launching the superscan, we'll know in a minute," Jeremy said. I could hear his typing in the background. "In my opinion, it's that dumb necklace that gives XANA control over Aelita. He wants to lead her straight to the Scyphozoa!"

"But I thought XANA couldn't control us if we've constantly been to Lyoko?" I couldn't help but ask. I made a left turn to keep up with Yumi. Aelita still hadn't noticed us. Or at the very least, was too focused on her goal to care.

"Well, yes and no. In short, your trips to Lyoko give you all much better _resistance_ to XANA, but not complete immunity," Jeremy summarized. My eyes widened. That was news to me!

"Well, that's encouraging," I deadpanned.

"I wouldn't worry about it Emily. It would take XANA a lot of effort and energy to take control of the rest of you. But with the constant presence of the necklace around Aelita, as well as possibly the link between her and XANA..." Jeremy trailed off.

"It gave XANA the power to take control of her," Yumi finished darkly.

Jeremy gulped. "Exactly what I was afraid of. XANA's activated a tower," he confirmed.

"Don't panic, Jeremy. Emily and I have just about caught up to her," Yumi informed him. Hearing her, Aelita glanced back at us and glowered. She immediately sped forward again with a sharp right turn.

"And to think I was going say that this was easy," I muttered, then shook my head. I ignored my immediate thought and pushed the pedal down, hard. I was unfortunately forced to brake to avoid being crushed to death by a pair of Krab legs. "Ack!" I pulled up on my wheel and shot into the air, almost like a rocket taking off. I veered back around and pulled my staff out to help Yumi.

The Krab focused in on the geisha and let out a rapid fire of lasers. The Overwing was struck, sending her to the ground. The Krabs fired at her again. She did a backflip out of the way, then pulled her fan out. "Jeremy, I don't want to sound pessimistic, but if Ulrich and Odd could hurry up a little bit...?"

"Don't worry, they'll be here soon," Jeremy said.

Yumi continued to run away from the barrage of lasers I circled from above. She ducked under another laser. Thinking fast, she then ran slightly up one of the rees, then leapt off from it. With it's added support, she was able to leap over the shells of the Krabs and land on one. She then jumped once again off of it, but still kept her attention on it. "Hiyah!" She launched her two fans into the eye, killing it. "That's one down." She grimaced when only one fan returned to her hand. "That's one fan down as well,"

"I got you! Ice Shard!" I exclaimed. A large chunk of ice materialized above the Krab. Gravity quickly took hold of it and forced it to fall. The ice quickly tore through the Krab, making it stagger before exploding. I pulled down to allow Yumi to board. "Hop on," I told her. She gladly obliged.

"Nice going, ladies," Jeremy complimented.

"You still have the visual on Aelita?" I asked.

"She took off for sector one, the Ice Sector. Use a Way Tower!" Jeremy instructed. I nodded and slammed on the pedal as said tower came into view. I heard Yumi make a distressed sound behind me.

"On the Overboard? Are you absolutely sure about that?" she asked nervously.

"Uh, well, yes. There's no reason you couldn't," Jeremy replied.

"C'mon, Yumi. Have a little faith in my driving skills!" I teased, knowing where this was going.

"If you two are wrong, I swear I'll-" She cut herself off with her own fearful yelp as my vehicle made contact with the tower. As I knew it could, we entered without a problem. I sped through the connecting channel, then exited when we reached the platform. As expected, we exited into the Ice Sector.

"You swear you'll what?" Jeremy and I chorused. Yumi wore a sheepish expression.

"Um... nothing," She answered. I let out a laugh.

"Now let's put the pedal to the metal!" I exclaimed. I thrust my foot down onto the pedal and shot forward. " _God, that was corny,"_ I shook off my thoughts and concentrated on getting to Aelita. She was visible now. I jumped off of and icy rock that was perfect for a ramp and sped after her.

"Ulrich and Odd will be joining you shortly! Keep pressing on!" Jeremy said from above. I let out a grunt in acknowledgement. I glanced back at Yumi. She nodded at me, seeming to get my idea.

I pulled up next to Aelita. "Hope that thing is insured!" I rammed the Overkart into the Overboard. Both vehicle dematerialized from underneath us. All three of us were sent tumbling forward. Aelita seemed to recover quickly, as she was off running while I was still stumbling to get up.

Yumi also recovered quicker than me. She did an impressing maneuver involving some flips to get in front of Aelita. "Aelita, you must stop obeying XANA!"

Our XANAfied friend gave her a nasty glare. "Leave me alone!" she ordered. She raised her hand and began to sing. Yumi and I both gasped when we noticed the ground underneath Yumi began to vanish!

"NO!" Yumi cried. She fell, only barely being able to hang onto the edge. Aelita smiled, seeming satisfied with herself. She hopped over the large gap and continued on.

"Yumi!" I exclaimed. I rushed over to her.

"Jeremy, could you just remind me what would happen if I fall into the Digital Sea?" Yumi asked, a scared tone painting her voice.

"If I were you I'd avoid it," Jeremy quipped.

"Well then if you could help me out of here, I'd appreciate it," Yumi snapped back.

"I'm bringing you back, but it's going to take a couple minutes," Jeremy said, typing away at his keyboard. Yumi grimaced.

"I was afraid you were gonna say that." There was a look of terror in her eyes. I can't say I blame her. As a survivor of the Digital Sea, I can attest to how... unpleasant, it was. Yumi screamed as her grasp suddenly gave out. I gasped and leaned forward to catch her... only to find a samurai's hand beat me to it.

"Happy to see me?" Ulrich asked. Yumi smiled up at him. "Emily, go on and catch up to Aelita. I'll stay here until I can follow,"

I nodded and took off. It didn't take long to see her. I pulled out my staff. "Magic Blast!" I called, and sent the orb to her right. I certainly wasn't trying to hit her, merely get her attention. I heard her let out a growl and stop to face me. I smirked at her. "Gonna take a little more than erasing the ground to take me down," I jeered.

She began to sing once again, this time creating a series of medium sized rocks. Still using her power, she began to hurl them at me. "Ah! Ice Sword!" I used my icy weapon to slash through the first boulder, smashing the weapon into pieces. I ducked under the second one. "Cloak Guard!" The last rock was destroyed when it hit my barrier.

"Emily!" I heard Odd call out. I made the costly mistake of turning around to face him as he ran towards me. I gasped when I felt something pierce through my chest. Aelita had rolled away from me and picked up one of the remaining shards of my weapon and stabbed me with it. I gave Odd a shocked look before I devirtualized. "No!"

 **Scanner Room**

I fell forward and out of the scanner. Yumi had just picked herself up and offered a helping hand. I took it gratefully. I felt exhausted, and slightly strange. I'd never been stabbed in Lyoko, and it was a somewhat strange feeling. We made our way up the ladder and back into the lab to join Jeremy.

I frowned at the map. Aelita was standing directly in front of the Scyphozoa. Odd tired to approach her, but she'd stopped him with an icy wall. I bit my lip.

"Ulrich, hurry up," Yumi urged.

"I'm almost there!" He responded. I could see another green icon meet up with Odd and Aelita. "You ok, Odd? Ulrich suddenly asked. I could imagine Odd climbing up the ice wall.

"Brilliant, as usual," he answered.

"Move it, Odd!" I shouted. He flipped himself over the wall to Aelita's side.

"Aelita! Stop!" Odd screamed. His icon suddenly froze in place. "Hey! That's cheating!" His feet were frozen solid in place.

"Jeremy, we're never gonna make it," Ulrich said.

"You guys have gotta come up with something. Anything," I begged.

"I do have one idea, but it's awfully risky," Jeremy piped up, giving the two of us an unsure look. Yumi and I glanced at each other, then nodded.

"Whatever it takes, Einstein," I answered. The tab for Aelita's memory popped open as the Scyphozoa took hold of her.

"Odd, aim for Aelita," Jeremy spoke each word concisely. Yumi's grip on the chair tightened, and I audibly gulped.

"Huh? Are you crazy!?" Odd demanded.

"Don't forget that if Aelita loses all of her life points, she'll disappear forever!" Ulrich reminded him.

"XANA wants her memory; he won't risk losing that. Deep down, he wants her alive as much as we do," Jeremy explained.

"Are you sure?" Yumi questioned.

"No... But I can't think of anything else," Jeremy admitted. I gripped my jacket tightly. There was so much at stake here.

"Ok... Here it goes." Odd fired a few arrows at her. It was almost painful to watch her life points, the ones we normally protect, diminish so rapidly. I felt tears coming into my eyes. I forced them back and continued to watch.

"Only 30 life points left!" Jeremy reported.

Odd paused. "Do you want me to stop?"

Jeremy hesitated, but then shook his head. "Urgh... No! just hope I'm right." I put my hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

A few more arrows. More points were taken from her. Suddenly, the countdown stopped.

"XANA's given up!" Ulrich exclaimed hopefully. That hope was extinguished when the Scyphozoa resumed where it had stopped.

"Not quite," I muttered. Odd fired a few more arrows.

"Only 10 points left!" Jeremy said nervously. The firing stopped. I could hear Odd from within the computer, and he was out of ammo. I let out a breath of relief when the Scyphozoa finally release Aelita. It slinked away, disappearing from the map.

"It's ok," Odd said.

"Huh? What's going on? Why are you aiming at me," Aelita asked. Jeremy, Yumi, and I all let out a breath of relief.

"It's a long story, Princess," I heard Ulrich tell her.

"We'll explain, but first and foremost, please take off that necklace when you're back home. It'll make sense in a minute," I told her. I ran my hand through my hair as the boys explained to Aelita what had happened. Soon enough, the tower was deactivated.

Ulrich, Odd, and Aelita all emerged from the elevator, with Ulrich holding onto the necklace. Ulrich threw it onto the ground in front of us. I grinned and stomped down on it, breaking it. Inside was revealed to be a small chip with XANA's eye on it. Jeremy picked it up curiously.

"I'm gonna study this. You never know, I might be able to get some interesting information about XANA," he said. We all looked towards Aelita.

"Anyway, Aelita, from now on, you don't take any present from anyone," Ulrich told her.

"Or at the very least, without me checking them first," I added. She nodded.

"Promise. You know, Jeremy saved my life, and that's the nicest Valentine's present anyone can hope for," Aelita said. Jeremy smiled bashfully at this.

"Yeah, but that sure won't save him from being suspended for missing four hours of detention. The principal's not gonna be too happy about that," Odd pointed out. "But I'm sure there's a solution," Odd grinned toward Ulrich.

"Hey, what're you looking at me for?"

 **Kadic**

"I'm really happy to be going to the concert with you, but you won't forget to talk to your father beforehand, huh?" Ulrich said, standing in front of Sissi. Poor guy, always having to bail us out with her.

"Don't worry, I'll get Jeremy out of this," Sissi promised. The two began to walk toward the administration building while holding hands.

"Now that's a real friend, willing to sacrifice himself for his pal," Odd noted.

"Are you sure he's sacrificing himself as much as all that? He doesn't seem to be bothered by it," Jeremy said. Ulrich was giving us a thumb's up from behind his back.

"To be fair, his end of the deal isn't so bad: sure, his company isn't great, bit he gets to go to a Subsonic's concert for free," I said with a shrug.

"Maybe so, but it was for me he wrote the poem," Yumi said, grinning. "Poor Sissi!" she laughed.

" _Craziest. Valentine's Day. EVER,"_

* * *

 **Ah, December. The perfect time to post a er... Valentine's Day chapter. Eh... oh well! I'm pretty happy with how this came out.**

 **And in other news... November 25th marked the three year anniversary of me posting Hero's Destiny, which is kind of hard to believe. Not even 14 year old me posted a kind of generic insert story, and to think it gained so much of a following! ANd I honestly thought I'd never make it past season 1! I'm amazed every time I get a new review. You guys mean a lot to me.**

 **To think I turn 17 in a few days... How time flies.**

 **I'll see you guys next time!**


	8. Final Mix

**How are you all doing, folks? Me? I'm doin alright, thanks!**

 **Final Mix is a good episode in my opinion, just not one of my favorites. I still enjoy watching it though. Even if Jeremy is a bit of a dick in this one.**

 **Am I forgetting anything... Oh! Right.**

 **Want to see what this project I've been working on is? Read the bottom notes after completing the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 8: Final Mix

Another day in the life of a Lyoko Warrior. Ulrich, Odd, and I were all standing at the vending machine. Ulrich made a face as hot chocolate flowed into his cup.

"I can't remember the equation. The square root of a quotient equals..." He closed his eyes in an attempt to remember.

I scrunched my face. "Um... Damn, I can't remember either. Quotient property, something or other," I admitted.

"Uh, zero? No, ten? Oh wait... Ah, I give up," Odd answered, looking at the numbers on the vending machine as he spoke. Ulrich downed his drink and looked to me. I gave him a nod. We started to walk off. "Hey, where are you two going?"

"To study for the science final. It's tomorrow, and we evidently can't depend on you for help," I answered him.

"You must be kidding! We'll miss the afternoon snack," Odd protested. "And don't get so worked up about that exam, I've got a little something in mind,"

Ulrich and I shared an unimpressed look. "Does this plan involving cheating? Cause I'm not interested if it is," I deadpanned. The last thing I needed was to risk the possibility of major trouble by cheating on an exam this big.

"Wow, you just read my mind," Odd said, obviously impressed. Ulrich rolled his eyes and threw his crushed cup at Odd's forehead. Said cup bounced off his forehead and into the trashcan.

"Forget your stupid plan," Ulrich said, siding with me.

"Gee, thanks a lot, guys, for being so supportive," Odd huffed. I let out a slight noise in surprise as Sissi all of a sudden dashed in front of us. She grinned widely.

"Wow, I am really knocked out! Bet you can't guess why?" Sissi exclaimed.

"Don't tell me... The members of the band Love Potion split up?" Odd guessed, suddenly distracted from his frustrations. Sissi rolled her eyes.

"Come on! That's old news, you dork," Sissi commented. "Brian fell in love with Krystal Pearl and so Jeffery kicked them out," she explained. I raised an eyebrow.

"Who in their right mind names their band 'Love Potion'?" I wondered aloud. Sissi gave me a somewhat annoyed look in response.

"Oh, never mind that!" Sissi said, waving her hand dismissively. "Now listen to this: my father said it was ok to use the gymnasium!" She cheered.

Odd's eyes widened. "He said yes!?" He asked excitedly.

"Mh-hmm," Sissi nodded.

"Yes!" Odd yelled in celebration. "I've gotta find William! C'mon, Emmy!" Odd brusquely reached forward grabbed my wrist.

"H-hey! Odd! I'm supposed to study with-"

"Oh relax. You room with Aelita. She can help you out more than you'll ever need," Odd waved it off. I looked back and gave Ulrich an apologetic look, which he seemed to accept. We'd been planning a review together to help each other out in our weakest points in chemistry and physics. Unfortunately, this put a wrench in that idea.

Odd dragged me with him as we went to the gymnasium. There, we found several students (possibly the current phys ed class) pushing gym equipment around while Jim barked orders. Most the equipment that we used, the mats and balls and such, were either tucked away in the storage room or set aside and out of the way.

I winced as I heard a crashing sound. Looking around, the source revealed to be exactly who we'd been looking for: William. He looked at the large device he'd been carrying misreably. It looked like some turntables, but considering the broken state of it, it was hard to tell. He appeared to be poking at something on the board in a vain attempt to fix it.

"So it's really true, huh? The principal gave the techno party the green light?" Odd asked him excitedly.

"Looks like it, yeah," William replied, not looking at us. He dropped whatever it was he was holding, seeming to realize he couldn't repair the damage.

"That's... Quite surprising given that this is Mr. Delmas we're talking about," I noted. I then took a sharp breath when I looked at the board. "But it's hardly going to be a party with the board in that shape,"

"No kidding. The mixing board is hammered, and I can't figure out how to fix it," William said. He held two wires that didn't match up near each other and groaned.

"No problem. We'll ask Jeremy! He's Mr. Fixit, he can fix anything," Odd reassured William with a slap on the back.

He looked up at the purple clad teen. "You think so?"

"Yeah!"

"How about this? You move the board over to the table while we at least go and ask Jeremy," I proposed. William nodded.

"Got it." He carefully picked up the broken board and began to walk to the stage while Odd and I exited the gym.

 **Jeremy's Dorm**

We knocked on the door and opened it as soon as we'd made it. Jeremy was, of course, typing away on his keybaord. He glanced back at us and made a hum of acknowledgement. Aelita, who was sitting on her bed reading a textbook, smiled at us as we let ourselves in.

"Hey there. Working on the antivirus again?" I asked. Aelita nodded.

"We've made some progress, yes," she answered.

"Well, maybe you'd like to take a break from that and help some friends out?" Odd suggested, rolling onto is heels. Jeremy's rythmic typing stopped almost immediately as he swiveled his chair to face us.

"Ok, what did you do this time?" He asked expectantly. Something told me Odd started a lot of his requests like this.

"Well, the principal gave his ok for that techno party we've been hearing about, but William kinda sorta broke the mixing board. Can you fix it? Pleeease?" Odd gave the blond genius his best puppydog eyed look in an attempt to woo him. Jeremy, however, wasn't so easily swayed. He rolled his eyes and turned back around.

"No. I've got better things to do with my time then mess around with a mixing board," Jeremy answered curtly. I quirked an eyebrow at Odd's somewhat indignant expression.

Aelita looked up from her book again. "Maybe I could help," she suggested.

"Would you?" I asked. Little as the party mattered to me, it would still suck to have such a large event cancelled for something at simple as broken equipment.

Jeremy let out a surprised noise and look back at her. "Uh, but what about our research on your antivirus?"

"I'm just sitting around watching you at this stage," she pointed out, closing her book.

"Great! Come on!" Odd beamed.

"What about the science final? Don't you ever study?" Jeremy questioned.

"It's in the bag," Odd said in his cheery yet nonchalant tone. I heard Jeremy make an unimpressed noise before Aelita closed the door. We started to make our way back to the gym.

"Speaking of which, Aelita, would you mind helping me review for the final tonight?" I requested.

"Sure, I don't mind at all. But weren't you supposed to study with Ulrich?" She asked. I nodded and sent Odd a slight frown.

"I was, but a certain sharpshooting cat stopped me," I said, stressing the word cat to call his attention. The cat in question gave me an innocent expression and began whistling. I rolled my eyes. "You are impossible, Della Robbia,"

We came to the door. Odd opened the door and did a mock bow and motioned for us to enter. "May the princess and her mage please enter first," he said, using a poor British accent. I stifled a snicker and followed the pinkette inside.

William looked up as we entered. He made a surpised face when he noticed Aelita. "Not that I'm mad to see you, Aelita, but I was expecting Jeremy,"

"Oh Jeremy was busy with erm... homework. He's finishing up some homework for Mr. Fumet," Aelita quickly said. "I think I'll be able to do about as well as he can though. Can I take a look?"

"Sure. You're bound to better than I would either way." William stepped aside. Aelita took a quick look at the board and began her work. Luckily, anything disconnected wasn't torn up, so she was easily able to match up wires back into place.

"So this is the thing that makes the music?" Aelita asked as she screwed a panel back on. Odd nodded at her.

"Yup. You play the records on the turntables. The board mixes one song with the another; the trick is to synchronize the sound," Odd explained, moving a few of the switches on the board as a demonstration. Aelita looked on curiously.

"Interesting," she noted.

William flashed a slightly concerned look. "It doesn't sound like you know an awful lot about it. Will it take much longer?"

"No. I'm done," Aelita said, morioning to a now completely repaired board.

"Wow. Looks like it'd never been broken," I remarked. If I hadn't seen William drop it before, I would never have even suspected it had been damaged. Aelita gave a slightly sheepish smile at the praise.

William picked a record sleeve up from the box nearby. "Mind if I give it a try?" He asked. None of us objected. He placed two records into the turntables before turning the machine on. He then pulled the headphones on, wearing them upside down oddly enough, and slid one of the switches up. He grinned when music started playing. "Hey, it works! Aelita, fantastic!" He studied her piqued expression for a moment before holding the headphones to her. "Wanna give it a try?"

"Well, yeah! Why not?" She took them from William and pulled them on like he had.

" _Maybe it can be her signature style,_ " I thought with a smirk. Odd, William, and I watched as she started to slide a switch down, the music fading out. She pushed another forward and mixed the two song together. From the speakers came a catchy techno song, a blend of the two records.

"Wow! I've never managed to get that kind of mix!" William wore an impressed look. And it was hard to blame him. Our favorite elf was a natural at it.

I looked over when the music suddenly stopped with a click. There was Jim, standing in front of the breaker, glaring at us disapprovingly. "Hey, goof-offs! Well, don't mind me! Do you know what time it is by any chance?" He cried. I looked at the time and had to stop myself from wincing.

"Sorry Jim. Just making sure everything works before tomorrow night," I explained. Hey, it wasn't entirely false. We put the headphones back on the tables and climbed down the stairs of the stage.

"Do you like techno?" Odd asked.

"Forget about it. Electronic music," Jim scoffed. "I prefer the twist!" He said, hands on his hips. I made a face.

"Uh, Jim? That's a dance, not a music genre," I smiled as a thought came to me. "You do seem like a disco kind of guy to me though, personally,"

"Uh... w-well, I um, what would give you that impression, Carroll?" Jim stuttered. I smiled innocently.

"Oh, nothing really. Just seems like your genre. Is it your favorite?" He began to walk away from me.

"I'd rather not talk about it," he simply stated, then left. I snickered and grinned from behind my hand.

"Aelita, you really mix like a pro. Where'd you learn?" William asked.

"Well, uh..." No one was expecting THAT question, especially after we established she knew absolutely nothing about the turntable other than how to fix it.

Odd to the rescue though. He ran over to his 'cousin' and draped an arm over her shoulders. "It runs in the family! We're all artists; we're creative", Odd quickly said. Aelita nodded, silently giving Odd a grateful look.

It satisfied William, in any case. "I'll make a selection of LP's, and you can be our DJ tomorrow night. Ok?" he suggested, handing her a record.

"You think so? Well... ok!" She accepted. William smiled.

"Great! I'll let you know the details as soon as I can tomorrow." He waved to us as he left the gym.

Both Odd and I looked at Aelita eagerly. "Look at you! You get to be Aelita the DJ!" Odd exclaimed cheerfully.

"I can't believe that just happened," I grinned at her. "So cool!"

"I know. Oh, I wonder what Jeremy's going to think!" Aelita mused, unable to wipe the smile from her expression.

"Einstein's out of his mind if he isn't happy for you," Odd said with a shrug. "I'll see you around. I gotta tell Ulrich about this! Later!" He made his way toward the gym doors

"You still need to study, Odd!" I called to him. He looked back and gave a 'whatever' kind of wave.

"It's in the bag!" He shouted back, right before the doors slammed behind him. I rolled my eyes.

"I swear it'll be a miracle if he passes," I said. "I'm gonna head back to the room to start. You coming?"

"Ah, yeah. But, can you give me a little time? I'd like to tell Jeremy" She requested.

"No problem. I'll meet you in a little bit,"

 **My Dorm**

I made a face at the current passage I was reading in my physics textbook. I tapped my pencil against the edge of the book in thought.

"It's times like this I'm reminded how absolutely much I detest doing math," I muttered to myself. I looked up from my erasing of notes as the door opened. Aelita didn't look at me as she shut the door forcefully behind her, not quite slamming it, but definitely not how someone would normally shut it.

I stood up from where I'd been leaning against my bed on the floor. "Aelita?"

She looked back at me, trying to keep a neutral expression on her face. It wasn't working. "Give me a few minutes and I'll help you," she said. She put her bag down and began to dig through it for her textbook.

I gave her a worried look. "Are you ok?" She moved her eyes away from me. "Did something happen?"

She looked me over, a conflicted expression on her face. She let out a sigh a moment later and shook her head. "It's nothing. Just... Jeremy,"

"Oh, what did that boy do now?"

She looked away from my gaze. "Well... I'm not wasting my time, right? With this party, I mean," she asked quietly.

"What!? No!" I quickly assured her. "What does that-" I stopped in realization. "Oh, damn it Belpois. Is that what he told you?"

She nodded sadly. "More or less. I asked him if it was human to want to do things like this, and he didn't give me a very promising answer..."

I groaned and rubbed my temple. I bent down and put my hands on her shoulders, making sure I had her attention. "Aelita, you are NOT wasting your time. It's perfectly fine for you to develop interests and hobbies outside the realm of computers, and perfectly human if you ask me." I gave her a smirk before continuing. "And if Jeremy thinks otherwise, then maybe he and I need to have a little chat,"

Aelita looked at me, slightly startled from my contact. "Really?"

"Yeah. I mean that." I leaned back against our dresser and smiled. "Personally, I think it's great that you've found a possible hobby, and a rather unique one at that. Not just anyone can be a good DJ,"

Aelita looked down at the floor for a few seconds before smiling back at me. "Yeah, I guess so. Are you gonna go tomorrow?"

"Well, now I have to! I'll just have to find my earplugs first. They're around here somewhere..." I made a mental note to do that before going to bed. At Aelita's confused face, I elaborated: "Loud noises or events and I don't get along. They tend to overload my senses,"

"Ah. Well, I'll help you look for them after we study. Speaking of which," she pulled her chemistry and physics books. "You ready?"

"Ah, yeah." I pulled be stuff over to my new seating place.

"Alright. Let's start with how much you remember of the basics..."

 **The Next Day**

I found Ulrich and Odd standing in line for the final easily.

"Morning," I greeted. Odd waved cheerfully as I approached. Ulrich, on the other hand, was too busy giving the blond a look of disbelief to reply.

"You didn't study at all?" He asked.

"Nope, but like I told Jeremy and Emily, it's in the bag," Odd whispered. Odd was about to walk to the stairs when he noticed the line. "Huh? What's going on? Can't we go in?"

Sissi looked back at us with a grimace. "Inspection by G.I. Jim." She explained. Odd looked on in horror as Heidi's bag was tossed in a pile of backpacks, leaving her only with a pen.

"Ouch, that's an unexpected development," Odd looked near devastated.

I quirked a brow as I dug through my binder for a pen. "You honestly thought they were going to let us take our stuff in for an exam like this? When cheating is such a high possibility?"

"Uh, I was kinda hoping that," Odd said. I rolled my eyes.

Ulrich clapped a hand onto his buddy's shoulder. "Good luck there friend, cause you're gonna need a lot of it today," he laughed.

We all trickled into the classroom. I was sitting in the middle of the room next to Jeremy. Ulrich and Odd were in the front, and Aelita was more towards the back. Ms. Hertz gazed at us with a stern expression as she passed out our first exam.

"You have two hours for physics, and then two hours for chemistry. My colleagues and I will correct the exams this afternoon. After that, the principal himself will announce the results." She looked at the clock as it struck eight o'clock. "You may begin."

For the next four hours, there was nothing but the sound of pens clicking, writing on paper and... paper folding? I looked up at that sound, which began about ten minutes after the first test started. Odd was folding his test into an origami swan. Ms. Hertz didn't even bat an eye at this, and merely rolled her eyes at him. I shook my head to snap myself out of my daze and focused back on my test.

" _Don't flare up now, ADHD!_ " I told myself.

The four hours seemed to take an eternity, but they were done. I grimaced at the ink mark on my left hand as Jim clapped his hands to mark the end. " _This is why I don't use pens,_ "

"The test is over. Put your pens down and stay where you are while I collect your papers," Jim announced. Whispering began coursing throughout the room as Jim picked up the tests. I looked back at Aelita, who gave me a confident smile. I gave her a so-so hand motion, but smiled back. I would pull at least a C in physics and probably a B in chemistry. "Stay in your seats until I have all of them," Jim ordered, seeing a few kids trying to stretch their legs.

Jim gave Odd an impressed look as he passed by him and Ulrich. "Well done, Odd. That's one of your best yet," he praised. Odd smirked at the comment.

We were let out minutes later. Everyone flocked towards the backpack pile to reclaim their bags before scattering about the campus. I met up with Ulrich Odd, and Aelita in the main entrance of the science building.

"You know, I think I might've actually passed science," Ulrich said, sounding astonished.

"Same here. Though it was a bit touch and go for physics," I admitted. "I doubt I have to ask, but what about you two?" I asked, looking towards Odd and Aelita.

The pinkette grinned. "It was pretty easy for me."

Odd shrugged. "I just hope they'll enjoy a more artistic approach to my answers."

"Y'know Odd, maybe if you'd studied a little, you wouldn't have had to pray to the art Gods for a passing grade," I reminded him. Both Ulrich and Aelita snickered at the comment.

"I'll stick with praying, thank you very much. Anyways, what time's the party?" Odd then asked.

"It's not until later tonight, after dinner," Ulrich replied. "And Odd tells me a certain someone is a one of the DJ's now." He smirked at Aelita.

"Ha, yes well, I'm excited." Aelita said.

"And we'll all be there. Well, almost all of us," I said. "Speaking of which, I need to talk with our resident Einstein,"

"You're not going to talk with him about not going, are you?" Odd asked.

"Emily, it's not a big deal. Don't worry about it," Aelita said. I shook my head.

"It's less about him not going and more about... something else that's been bugging me." I admitted. "I promise I'm not going to kill him, just have a little faith. I'll see you guys later tonight,"

 **Jeremy's Dorm**

I knocked on the door and let myself in. It was customary to do so by now, and Jeremy never really seemed to care. And there Jeremy was, typing away to try and find Aelita's antivirus.

"Hey, Jeremy," I said. He glanced back at me.

"Oh, hey, Emily," Jeremy greeted. He turned back to his screen. "I thought you were going to the techno party,"

"I am, but it's not till later," I confirmed. He nodded his head. I rubbed the back of my neck. " _God, this was less awkward in my head... Here goes nothing,"_ I steeled myself for what I was about to do. "That's actually what I wanted to talk with you about.

"Look, if you're here to try and convince me to go, don't bother. Ulrich, Odd, and even Yumi already tried." Jeremy answered. "Frankly, I'm surprised you're going. I thought you said you didn't like loud events?"

"Yumi? Really?" I couldn't help but ask, but then shook my head. "Never mind. It's not about that. I can't force you to go if you don't want to. Hell, I'm probably gonna bail after Aelita plays. But that's not what I wanted to say,"

Jeremy turned his chair to face me as I leaned against the table next to his computer. "It's just... hear me out on this, ok? Even if you don't wanna hear it," I took a deep breath. "I think you've still got to get used to the fact that Aelita is, by all intents and purposes, a human now, and you need to treat her as such,"

"Huh?!" Jeremy gave me an utterly baffled look, which quickly morphed into anger. "Hey, in case you forgot, _I'm_ the one that built the program, which I spent an entire year on might I add, that let Aelita come to Earth in the first place! So don't tell me that-!"

"Let me finish!" He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair begrudgingly. "It's just... for that year, Aelita was on Lyoko, honestly, aside from wanting to see Earth and enjoying our company, particularly yours, she didn't have much of a personality, since y'know, AI," I said. "But now, she's here on Earth, with more complex feelings and all the other weird human stuff and well... she's going to have interests outside of computers now since she has a chance to.

"And that might be a little weird to you, because before, you were her only true link to the world beyond Lyoko, and all she knew was computers, so that's what you talked about. But now..." I rubbed the back of my head, trying to think of what I wanted to say. "Now she's here, and going to develop interests beyond what she already knew, and it's important that you be supportive of that and not shoot down anything noncomputing related. Because even if you aren't her sole link to Earth anymore, you're still an important part of her world."

"..." Jeremy looked down to the floor at my words.

"I dunno. Maybe I'm not making sense but... that's just something I wanted to tell you." I stood up and made my way to the door.

"Emily, I..." Jeremy stammered, but couldn't find the words.

"I'll see you around, Jeremy," I told him, then closed the door behind me.

 **Later**

"You didn't murder him, did you?" Ulrich asked as I approached him and Odd. They were standing in line for the party, which was going to open in about 15 minutes. I rolled my eyes.

"You act like I'm a serial killer. I just needed to talk with him about something, that's all. And no, you may not ask what it's about," I said, turning to Odd, who I could tell was about to ask.

"Hey! For all you know, I could've been offering you a million dollars," Odd protested.

"In American money, or Euros?" I asked jokingly.

"Well now you'll never know," Odd said with a chuckle.

"Well?" I heard Yumi ask from behind me. I turned to face her as she approached. Odd leaned against the railing and shrugged.

"Sure, never felt better,"

"I was talking about your exam, stupid."

"Looks like I'm going to be left back this year," Odd replied.

"Oh, don't exaggerate. But it wouldn't have killed you to study a little," Yumi told him. I looked at her with an exasperated look.

"Uh, I'm not sure he's exaggerating there, Yumi. Guy folded a paper swan out of his test instead of doing any of it," I explained. She gave Odd a baffled look.

"Ok, correction: it wouldn't have killed you to TRY a little," she said.

"Cut it out. This is not the time," Ulrich interjected, ending the discussion. Maybe he hadn't done as well as he'd hoped?

"Hey, we're gonna see 'Aelita: The DJ'! That's bound to cheer us up" Odd exclaimed excitedly. "Where is she?"

I pointed at the gym doors. "Already inside. DJ's had to test their mixes to make sure the sound was all working earlier this afternoon," I explained. Aelita had explained it to me as she left after we'd found my earplugs.

"Not to mention they get VIP treatment," Ulrich added.

"What about Jeremy?" Yumi asked. Both of the boys looked at me.

"Emily murdered him," they both answered.

"I did not!"

"Huh?" Yumi gave us a strange look. "Ok, back up a sec. What happened?"

"Well..." Odd began, but was cut off by the doors opening. Several people cheered and began to flood through. I slipped in my earplugs and joined my friends in following.

The gym looked completely different with all the rave like lighting everywhere and all of the equipment out of the way. The turntables stood in a spotlight on a stage that'd been set up for the event. Music was playing loudly, but it was thankfully muffled slightly for me. It wasn't the best situation, but I'd manage until Aelita was done. No one was on stage except the guy checking the sound out for one last check. Soon enough though, it was time for the first act.

"And now, Aelita, a brand new DJ! And as you're gonna see, she totally rips!" a student announced. Aelita let the records start spinning and the interesting music began. The lights shined in time with her track, and all around, Kadic students were cheering. Yumi and Ulrich went up ahead to dance, but I stayed back with Odd and tapped my foot along. William walked up to us with a grin on his face.

"Your cousin's incredible, Odd!" he shouted. Odd grinned in agreement and began to dance like there was no tomorrow. I let out a laugh, not because he was bad, but out of enjoyment. He grabbed my wrist as the song changed and somehow got me to join in with him. I wasn't very good... but it was fun, since Odd didn't seem to care. Nor did William, who looked on in amusement at us.

As the song changed again, but Odd paused his dancing to look at the navy haired teen. "What's up? Not dancing?"

William cringed. "Eh, it's not really my thing," he said.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me! C'mon! Let's see how you move!" Odd and I shared a look when he began to basically march in place.

"Well, you aren't wrong about it not being your thing," I laughed.

"Nice dog sound. Where did Aelita sample that from?" Odd suddenly asked.

"What dog sound?" I questioned, not hearing anything. He looked down and frowned. Kiwi was yipping at him loudly, though not loud enough for me to hear. "What's Kiwi doing here? Someone could see you, my favorite little mangy mutt," I said, scratching Kiwi's ears. That didn't phase him though, as he kept on barking.

"Ok, ok, ok, hold on, I'm coming," Odd decided. He followed the little mutt as he led him towards the exit.

"Hey, where are you two going?" Yumi asked when Odd bumped into her. A look behind her showed that Sissi was dancing with an unhappy Ulrich.

"Ask him," Odd pointed. She gazed at Kiwi worriedly.

"I'll go with you. I could use some fresh air," she decided. Ulrich looked back at us and evidently decided to join as well.

I pulled my earplugs out as we exited the gym. " _Ah, the sweet sound of nothing,"_ I thought. Kiwi kept barking and guiding us to the dorms building.

"What's he taking us here for?" Yumi wondered.

"Kiwi, this better not be your attempt for extra playtime!" Odd told his dog. But Kiwi ran straight past Ulrich and Odd's room, instead heading for...

"Jeremy!" We all exclaimed in realization. Ulrich threw open the door. Jeremy was laying on the ground, his hands bound, and a piece of duct tape was attached to the table leg around where his mouth was. Ulrich and Odd quickly got to work freeing him.

"What happened?" Yumi asked.

"It was Jim. XANA's possessed him," Jeremy explained, rubbing his wrists. He looked around worriedly. "Where Aelita?"

"At the dance. She's finishing her mix," Ulrich answered, but the understanding look was there.

"With Jim around?!" Jeremy exclaimed. "We've got to get there now! Jim could take her and virtualize Aelita onto Lyoko alone with the Scyphozoa and..." There was no need to finish. We all booked it out of Jeremy's room and ver to the gym as fast as we could.

"Are you sure Jim can virtualize Aelita and send her to Lyoko?" Ulrich asked.

"Under XANA's control he can do anything!" Jeremy reminded him.

"And Aelita doesn't stand a chance all alone against the Scyphozoa," Yumi said bleakly.

"And she can say bye-bye to her memory!" Odd added.

"Then let's make sure that doesn't happen," I said, trying to stay determined. We opened the door, but we were too late: Aelita wasn't there. "Oh no..."

"That leaves only one other place. Hurry, to the factory!" Ulrich ordered.

 **Factory**

After the usual route underground, we found ourselves swinging down the cables to the main floor. As if on cue, the elevator opened to reveal Jim, glaring at us evilly with the eye of XANA flickering in place of his pupils. He let out a laugh as he exited. We all backed away in fear.

"Jeremy, Yumi, Emily, take the corridor. Odd and I will take care of Jim," Ulrich decided.

"Ok, but be careful!" I warned them. The three of us could hear the sounds of Ulrich and Odd's seemingly futile attempts to fight Jim. I winced at each blow. We soon found ourselves climbing down the corridor latter into the lab.

Jeremy made his way over to the computer and pulled on his headset. "Aelita, are you ok?" On the map, Aelita appeared to be inside a huge crater, but was alone with one monster. Judging on the amount of life points it had, it was probably a Megatank.

"Let's say I've been better," Aeita responded with a slight waver as she backed away from the monster.

"Hang on, help is on the way," Jeremy assured her. I bit my lip in worry when I saw Aelita trying to make a break for it on the map. It didn't work, and she fell when the Megatank fired a warning blast to knock her off the spiraling upward path.

Meanwhile, with the boys, Odd grimaced as Jim continued to glare at them.

"If you ask me, it's more like he's gonna take care of us," Odd said. The boys backed away as Jim split into two versions of himself. "And he's brought a friend along with him too," Odd stated fearfully, backing away. Ulrich took a defensive stance. "Go! BONSAI!" Odd shouted, using the brunette as a springboard. He lifted his leg to go in for a flying kick, but he passed through both Jims. He looked back in shock. The ghost wavered a bit, but was otherwise unaffected by Odd's attack. "This is bad..."

"Think so? Augh!" Ulrich cried as one Jim punched him with an electrified fist.

"Ulrich!" Odd tried to run over to him, but was hit by Jim's arm. Seeing the two were down, the two Jims fused back into one, unaware of Odd crawling over to Ulrich. "Ulrich? This is no time to be taking a nap. We've got an invincible guy to wipe out," Odd said, shaking the brunette's shoulder.

"What are you suggesting?" Ulrich asked. He couldn't help but share Odd's infectious grin as the blond held up a metal pole.

"Like the way we handled the Kankrelats," Odd said, then handed the pole off to Ulrich as he stood up. Ulrich gave him a nod to go for it. "Hey, Jim! You didn't think a little tap like that would knock me out, did you?" Jim turned to him with an angry look. He encased his hands in electricity and punched one into the other threateningly. Before he could make good on that threat however, Ulrich struck him upside the head with the pole. Jim's form crackled and sparked like static, leaving him motionless on the ground.

"Hurry up," Ulrich beckoned Odd.

"Yeah!" Odd cheered, then entered the elevator.

I looked over from my scanner as the elevator opened. Odd was quick to rush in, leaving Ulrich to have to wait. "We're ready here, Einstein," I told him.

"Transfer, Emily. Transfer, Yumi. Transfer, Odd. Scanner, Emily. Scanner, Yumi. Scanner, Odd. VIRTUALIZATION!"

 **Desert Sector**

The three of us landed without issue, and Ulrich joined soon as well. A large formation of rocks was behind us, but that wasn't our goal.

"The crater isn't far. Head south, southeast!" Jeremy ordered.

"Have you programmed the vehicles?" Yumi asked.

"Of course, I think of everything," Jeremy said lightly. The frames of our four vehicles appeared in that moment, then filled in. "So does XANA from the looks of it. You've got company!"We looked back to find a squadron of Hornets flying straight for us. "Faster! If the Scyphozoa gets there before you do Aelita's done for!"

"Go ahead, leave the Hornets to me," Odd said, waving us away. The three of us climbed onto our vehicles.

"Go!" Ulrich shouted, and we were off. An explosion behind me told me that Odd had already managed to kill one Hornet. I just hoped he'd be able to manage.

"Careful, the Hornets are right behind you! But you're not far now," Jeremy relayed. Indeed, we were crawling closer and closer to the crater Aelita was being held in. "You're there!"

"Gotcha," Ulrich said.

I glanced back as a buzzing sound drew near. "Hope you two remembered the bug spray," I quipped. I let out a screech as I ducked to avoid a laser. There were only three Hornets, but they were firing like there was five of them. Yumi pulled up to break off to the crater, leaving Ulrich and me left on the ground.

"Agh!" Ulrich cried suddenly. He was shot in the shoulder and sent flying off his bike.

"Ulrich!" I glared back at the Hornets. "Magic Blast!" I fired the orb at one of the bugs and managed to hit it. I pulled up on my controls to head into the air. Ulrich meanwhile, was busy deflecting laser fire from the Hornets with his saber, but was then shot in the arm again.

"Surprise!" Odd shouted in a sing song tone. A barrage of a few arrows whizzed by the Hornets and caught their attention. Odd then zipped by them on his Overboard. He made a u-turn to come back around and joined me in flying towards them. He lifted his arm to try and fire again, but another laser hit his board, destroying it. Odd made a split second decision to jump off and fell onto the ground on his stomach.

Ulrich pulled up next to him. "Taxi?" he asked with a mock salute. A grateful Odd immediately climbed up behind the samurai, having to do a few fips to dodge lasers in order to do so.

"Emily, go help Yumi and Aelita. Ulrich and I will squash these bugs no problem," Odd said. I nodded.

"On it," I affimed. I did a sort of barrel roll, Star Fox style of course, to escape the Hornets, then took off to the crater. Yumi still hadn't quite reached it as I approached, but was nearing it. She nodded at me as Aelita, the Megatank, and the Scyphozoa came into view. Aelita was backed against a wall, trying to get away from Squidward, but to fearful to move far. We passed over the top of the crater and jumped out.  
"Bonsai!" I shouted. As I jumped out, I aimed my kart at the Megatank, then kicked it toward the giant ball as I leapt. It didn't kill it, and my vehicle dematerialized, but I did manage to stun the thing.

"Not so fast, blubber face!" Yumi cried, glaring at the Scyphozoa threateningly.

"That felt super badass," I said confidently. I looked back at Aelita. "Quite an after party here, huh.? A shame we had to crash it to get in,"

"Look out!" Aelita exclaimed, pointing at the Megatank. It shook itself to wave off the fact that I just tried to kill it with a car accident, and focussed its attention on us.

It opened its shell and fired, forcing Yumi and I to each jump a separate direction. We just narrowly escaped being nicked in the foot thankfully, but Yumi's Overwing was struck, leaving us with no vehicles. We looked at one another and nodded. I couched down with my hands cupped, and Yumi ran towards me. She jumped up a few feet away from me and landed in my grip. I threw her into the air, giving her the height she needed. Using it to her advantage, Yumi let loose one of her fans. She succeeded in killing it, but before its destruction, the Megatank let one last laser wall fly. I scrambled to roll out of the way, but Yumi couldn't react in time and was struck in the foot. She was devirtualized instantly.

"Yumi!" Aelita and I exclaimed. I slammed my fist on the ground. I stood up and focused my attention on the giant jellyfish in front of my instead. It loomed closer to Aelita.

"Oh hell no! Thunder wave!" I cried. A large wave of electric energy flew from my staff. It made it's way to the Scyphozoa but... it bounced off!? "What!? Cloak Guard!" I fumbled for my cape and threw it in front of me just barely in the nick of time. I felt my barrier shatter around me and my own electricity surrounded me. I let out a cry of pain and fell to the ground. My staff rolled away from me and out of reach.

"Emily! What happened!? You're down to 40 life point!" Jeremy informed me.

"Apparently, this thing is lightning resistant," I coughed. The electricity faded, but the pain was still there. I could only watch as the Scyphozoa grabbed hold of Aelita and began to drain her memory.

"Emily! Ulrich and Odd should be on the way, but if you can do anything that'd be great," Jeremy said, as if I wasn't aware of that already. I'd crawled up to my hands and knees when I heard the roar of Ulrich's bike above me. He was fast approaching, but the two Hornets from earlier were still in hot pursuit. He pulled up beside me and helped me up.

"Jeremy, what level is Aelita's memory at?" Ulrich asked. Silence from the lab followed, as well as a laser from a Hornet.

I looked at Ulrich and shook my head. "We have to assume the worst right now. You handle old Squidward, I'll exterminate these bugs once and for all," I said. He nodded and ran off, his saber at the ready. I focussed back on the pests in front of me.

I did a roll to avoid some lasers and picked my staff of the ground. "Let's try this again, Thunder Wave!" Another, though slightly smaller, electric wave was conjured from my staff. And this time, it hit, without bouncing back to me. The two Hornets exploded instantly. I looked over and saw Aelita falling to the ground, and the Scyphozoa backing away with some severed tentacles.

"Get to the activated tower! 25 degrees east, move it!" Jeremy ordered.

"We got it," I said, and nodded at Ulrich as he helped Aelita up. "This is no time to drag your feet. Move out!"

We ran as fast as we could to get out of the crater and get to the tower. Ulrich and I stopped a fw feet from the tower, and Aelita ran straight inside.

"She's in, Jeremy," he looked toward me. "Now all we have to do is wait."

The tower changed back to blue seconds later. I let of a breath that I hadn't been aware I'd been holding.

"Return to the past, now!" The world was engulfed in white.

 **Arches**

"Ok, so that's a promise, right? Jeremy, you're gonna help me with physics, and Aelita, you're gonna help me chemistry. And you're gonna help me until I get it, right?" Odd asked, looking up from a textbook.

"Promise," the two geniuses chorused. I once again, let out a noise of surprise when Sissi approached us.

"Wow, I'm really knocked out! Bet you can't guess why," she said. Odd rolled his eyes.

"Your father said ok for the gymnasium?" He guessed.

"Huh? How did you know that?" Sissi questioned, a shocked expression on her face.

"Well, I've already lived through this day and just traveled back through time," Odd said nonchalantly with a shrug. I covered my mouth with my hand to block my grin from view.

"You're a real loony. I feel sorry for you," Sissi said.

"By the way, you wanna come and study with us? Jeremy and Aelita are gonna give us a hand," Odd offered.

"Study? Me?" Sissi let out a laugh. "Looks like you lost the only brain cell you had left," She said before sauntering off.

"If only she knew what was coming," Odd said.

I cupped my hands and yelled to her, "If I were you then, I'd start praying to the art Gods right now!" Aelita, Ulrich, and Odd all let out a laugh, though Jeremy was a bit confused.

Aelita then grinned and looked at us. "After final exams, I want you to teach me about techno! I love it! It's my new earthly passion," Aelita requested. Odd grinned back and gave her a thumbs up. "Will you come listen to me mix, Jeremy?"

Jeremy glanced at me for a second before returning her smile. And it was a fully sincere one at that. "Promise,"

Aelita let out a cheer and gave him a hug, which took him both by surprise and nearly off his feet. He looked back at me again, and gave him botha smirk and a thumbs up.

" _Way to go, Einstein. Way to go,_ "

* * *

 **JESUS THIS TOOK LONGER THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD! Wasn't on purpose, I swear. I blame high school personally.  
**

 **I decided to add in the little part with Jeremy because, while I appreciated his change of heart at the end, it wasn't really warranted, since no one really called him out on it.**

 **Now... onto the project I've been working on.  
Ok... deep breaths Stacks, cause this is big.**

 ***Ahem* You may remember that almost... almost a year ago, seriously?! Well anyways, that I asked about how you guys thought I'd do if I wrote something Teen Titans related, and the response was mostly positive.**

 **Well, note that nothing Teen Titans related has come out of me thus far... And that's because it's not just a Teen Titans story...**

 **It's a crossover.**

 **As of today, I'm officially announcing that I am working on a Teen Titans and Code Lyoko crossover entitled "Clash With the Titans", and here is the current working summary:**

"A sudden and mysterious attack in Paris has freed the previously frozen villains. More questions are raised than answered when the only clue they can find leads them to a small boarding school called Kadic. Meanwhile, the Lyoko Warriors, struggling with their latest losses, must now cope with the arrival of a group of superpowered teens on top of their usual troubles"

 **Now, that's not the final summary, but it's what I have for now. This story will take place after season 5 of Teen Titans and right at the start of season 3 of Code Lyoko.**

 **I would like to make one thing EXTREMELY clear however: I have no idea when it will be posted.**

 **It could be two weeks from now, it could be two years from now. I don't know. The main story is set in stone, it's just details and getting to that point is what I'm on, as well as making sure the characters are right, especially since I've never written the Titans. But I wanted to make an official announcement for it after hinting at it all this time.**

 **Look forward to that in the hopefully near future, and I'll see you guys next time.**


	9. Missing Link

**Sup readers! Glad about the response I got about Clash With the Titans. Really appreciate it. It'll be a thing eventually... I'm just not sure when is all.**

 **And uh, sorry about the wait. Junior year is finally winding down. Since I took AP classes, I don't have finals in most of my classes, so it'll be mostly smooth sailing from here. I hope to be at least halfway done with with by the time summer ends, but as per usual, that's not a promise. Senior year shouldn't be as taxing though on my time, so lets just hope for that.**

 **Ah, Missing Link. Kinda a weird one, probably not in my top ten for season 2, but enjoyable. Really, there's very few episodes I DON'T enjoy in Seasons 2 and 3.**

 **Of course, next time is one of them, but we'll get to that later.**

* * *

Chapter 9: Missing Link

It was a Sunday morning, Ulrich, Odd, Aelita, and I were all waiting in the scanner room with Jeremy in his place at the computer. We were almost ready to go, but something was off. And that was...

"What could Yumi be doing? We have to get some data out of Sector 5." Jeremy pondered. I could hear him tapping his fingers against the arm of his chair impatiently.

"It's not like her to be late," Ulrich noted, glancing at the time.

"Maybe she's with William," Odd suggested.

"Hm?" Ulrich hummed, giving Odd a sour look. I gave our resident cat a look and elbowed his side. He jumped at pulled away from me and went closer to Aelita.

"Hey, I said maybe." Odd said innocently, rubbing his side. Aelita looked at them and shook her head before focussing her attention toward the ceiling.

"By the way, Jeremy, have you made any headway on the antivirus recently?" she asked, deciding to move onto more serious matters. I stopped myself from frowning.

" _It's a shame Jeremy's throwing so much work into something that won't even matter in the end..._ " I mused. Of course, I couldn't tell him that. It would raise too many questions, and I didn't feel like trying to explain to them about how they were a part of a cartoon I obsessed over as a child, and even in more recent years before my arrival.

Jeremy let out a noise in thought. "Well, actually it's going kind of slow. I'm missing a lot of important codes," he admitted. The hopeful expression on Aelita's face deflated. It was kind of disheartening to be honest.

Odd seemed to agree, as he put his hands on her shoulder and looked at her with a determined face. "With a little luck, we'll find them today," he encouraged her. Ulrich nodded.

"And then it'll be ciao, XANA," he added.

"And we'll finally be able to shut down the supercomputer," I said. Aelita smiled at us all again, nodding with a renewed energy.

"You're right. Thank you," Aelita thanked. I flashed her a grin and thumbs up.

"We'd better forget about Yumi. Ulrich and Odd, you're up first," Jeremy finally decided. We all nodded. I stepped out of the way to allow Odd to enter the scanner behind me. Soon, the scanner doors opened, and it mine and Aelita's turn.

"Transfer, Emily. Transfer, Aelita. Scanner, Emily. Scanner, Aelita. VIRTUALIZATION!"

 **Forest Sector**

Aelita and I landed next where Ulrich and Odd were standing. XANA's monsters were nowhere in sight, which I decided to take as a positive sign.

"Now head for the edge of the sector, ok?" Jeremy ordered. All four of us nodded, but before we could take off, Jeremy came back and said, "Wait a minute, Yumi just got here. I'm sending her in,"

"Understood," I called back. I glanced back at the others, particularly Ulrich. He had his arms crossed and was looking toward one of the towers in the distance. Odd's comment must've really gotten to him.

Seconds later, Yumi landed and joined the fun.

"A little longer and we would've started the party without you," Odd said.

"Where were you?" Ulrich asked forcefully. Yumi turned from his intense stare.

"I had something to do," she responded cryptically. Ulrich was hardly satisfied with that.

"Yeah right, like being with William," Ulrich scoffed. Aelita and I shared a concerned glance at each other. This was not going to end well.

"Huh? Hey, don't you get tired of being jealous all the time?" Yumi retorted.

"Aha! I knew it! You were with him!" Ulrich accused back. Odd looked at the two as they squabbled and rolled his eyes. I sent him a looked that read, 'you started this'.

Yumi looked at him with a mixture of disappointment and anger and shook her head. "You can believe whatever you want. Be jerk if you want too,"

"You must think I'm really dumb," Ulrich retorted. The grip on his saber was tight. The two were at a standoff, glaring at each other.

I let out a sigh and stepped between them. "Enough, both of you," I looked more at Ulrich though while saying that. "What matters now is that Yumi's here, and we need to get to Sector 5, otherwise this will have just been a huge waste of time,"

The two of them glanced at each other for a moment, but then Ulrich let out a 'hmph' and turned away from Yumi. Yumi made a surprised face, but then rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest.

I let out an annoyed groan. "Why is it always me playing peacekeeper with these two?" I muttered.

"Careful, you have visitors!" Jeremy suddenly warned us. We all looked ahead at the path in front of us. A small group of Kankrelats was fast approaching us.

"Settle this later, ok?" Odd advised, glancing back at them. He looked back at the approaching monsters and readied his arrows. "I'm gonna give them a little Odd acupuncture!"

"Aelita, take cover," Ulrich instructed her. She nodded and ran towards a tree nearby. Far enough from the battle, but close enough that we could get to her if the Scyphozoa showed up. Yumi, Ulrich, and I all unsheathed our weapons. The match began with a bang as the Kankrelats began their assault us. I dived down to avoid a few blasts.

"Laser Arrow!" Odd fired off an arrow that hit its target with ease. He grinned, impressed with himself. "One down! Great way to start off the morning,"

"Yeah, well, try to keep it up," I said. I focused on one of the Kankrelats closest to me. "Magic Blast!" Another dead on hit from Team Lyoko. Yumi on the other hand, leapt over me and missed with her fan. She did a few backflips to avoid the ensuing laser blasts, while Ulrich deflected some with his saber.

"Watch it! More Kankrelats at five o'clock!" Jeremy shouted. Odd and I glanced behind us. The little cockroaches somehow managed to approach us without our notice. They fired at us both and hit me in the leg and Odd the torso. Noticing this, Ulrich ran over and blocked another laser from striking us, then slashed at one of them. As expected, it exploded. The other Kankrelat focussed its attention on the brunette and shot him in the shoulder.

"What's with the army today?" I asked as I rolled behind a tree. "I get we're kinda invading XANA's house, but he's never really cared this much before. Ack!" I leapt out of the way once more to narrowly avoid a laser to the face. I charged up a Magic Blast and left a burn mark where it once stood. I looked back as a Laser Arrow flew past me to see Odd landing from a flip shot he'd done to kill another Kankrelat that was approaching me.

"It's a pretty interesting welcoming committee, that's for certain," Odd agreed as Ulrich approached. The samurai nodded.

"What do you expect? XANA's never exactly been the kindest to us when we invite ourselves in," Jeremy pointed out. I had to give him that at least.

That was when I heard a sound from behind us. Looking back revealed the Scyphozoa approaching Yumi as she tried to catch up to us. I gripped my staff tightly as I prepared for what I was about to do. While Ulrich and Odd took care of the approaching Kankrelats, I ran towards Yumi.

"YUMI! LOOK OUT!" I yelled, then shoved her out of the way before the Scyphozoa could grab her. Instead, the slimy monster settled on me. My staff fell from my grip and I let out a gasp of surprise as I was hoisted into the air.

I was completely and utterly paralyzed and could do nothing put watch as it placed the tip of its tentacles on my forehead. The feeling of it taking what belonged to me was extremely unpleasant, to say the least. I would've shuttered, had I been able to wiggle even a bit.

Now I understand why Aelita was so terrified of this thing.

After what felt like an eternity later, I finally dropped to the ground. My vision was slightly blurry, but I could make out Ulrich standing near me and the Scyphozoa backing away with severed tentacles. I let out a painful groan as I sat up with a hand to my head. There was something... off, about how I was feeling, and a part of me was thankful I knew what that was already.

"Emily, are you alright," Ulrich asked. Yumi was staring at me with an awed expression. I turned from her gaze.

"I'm... not sure. I feel a little strange," I admitted. Aelita approached from behind the her tree cover.

"Well anyway, it seems to have scared the Kankrelats away," Odd noted as the little monsters scurried off.

"Why would they go after you?" Jeremy wondered. "We'll abort the mission." Aelita and Odd took off for a nearby deactivated tower, leaving Yumi, Ulrich, and me in each others presence.

"Emily, why...?" Yumi began, but she seemed unable to form the question she wanted to ask.

"I... just reacted," I settled on that explanation. Yumi closed her mouth, but wore a strange expression.

"I'm bringing you in. Materialization, Aelita. Materialization, Odd. Materialization, Emily." I frowned when I remained where I stood. Yumi and Ulrich did as well.

"Jeremy? Is something wrong" Yumi questioned.

"N-no! I just... must've made a mistake! I'll reboot the program." Jeremy assured me. I did my best to keep my expression neutral. "Materialization, Yumi. Materialization, Ulrich. Materialization, Emily.' Once again, I remained where I was, but now I was all alone. With no one left to look at my face, I didn't bother trying to hide the worry that had been creeping into my expressions.

"I can't believe it. Emily, I don't know what's going on, I can't devirtualize you!" Jeremy explained to me. His tone was a complete panic, and I could only imagine the thoughts running through his head.

"What?" I asked.

"Go hide in a tower while I figure this out! Direction south, southeast!" Jeremy ordered. I let out a noise of affirmation and took off towards the closest tower.

 **Real World, 3rd Person POV**

The rest of the group watched with great trepidation as Emily entered the tower. "Ok, Jeremy, I've made it. Any idea what's going on?"

"I... no. I don't," Jeremy admitted, sighing deeply. "But don't worry! I'll find the bug! You're safe in the tower,"

"...Ok, Jeremy." Emily replied after a moment.

"All I know is that Emily just saved you, big time," Odd said, looking over at Yumi.

Jeremy gave a confused look. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"If the Scyphozoa had gotten to her, she'd miss the 9th grade class picture, and that's a one way trip to a one day suspension if she'd missed that," Odd explained.

"A suspension? For missing a class picture? That's harsh," Emily commented from inside the computer.

"In any case, thank you for that," Yumi said gratefully. "But what's going to happen to her now?"

"I'm not sure, but I'll figure something out, I swear." Jeremy looked back at the others. "If the rest of you have something better to do, I'm not obligating you to stick around. This is going to take some time to figure out." Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi were all making their way towards the elevator before Jeremy even finished.

"I'll stay here. We may figure it out faster if we work on it together," Aelita decided. Jeremy gave her a small, appreciative smile.

The elevator closed around the others. Ulrich and Yumi stood in opposite corners, both with their arms folded over their chests. Ulrich gave a glance toward Yumi before letting out a sigh. "Yumi, just answer me: were you or were you not with William?"

"Would it matter if I had been?" Yumi replied curtly, giving him a sharp look. Ulrich looked back at her with a frown and let out an annoyed growl, but otherwise said nothing. She shook her head at his inability to respond. When the elevator doors opened, she was the first to exit. Ulrich let out a groan and slapped his head in frustration before taking off as well, and Odd merely let out a sigh as he trailed behind him.

 **Lyoko**

I paced around the tower as I listened to Jeremy's rhythmic typing. It was difficult to hold still, even with the knowledge of what was going on.

I looked up. "Theories, Jeremy. You have any?"

"In my opinion, when the Scyphozoa attacked you, he gave you some kind of bug, Emily," Jeremy theorized.

"Or taken something from me... Though what exactly I'm not sure. Memory, perhaps?" I threw out.

"That would be strange. It's my memory that XANA seems to be after," Aelita pointed out. I made a weird 'eh' kind of noise in concession.

"If we're basing this on the idea that XANA took something from you, then it'd have to be something else. Stand still. I'm launching a digital analysis."

"Gotcha, chief," I answered. I moved over to the middle of the platform. I won't lie, the feeling of rising in the air was a tad weird, but the actual scanning was surprisingly alright. Though, frankly almost ANYTHING feels better than the hold of the Scyphozoa.

"Oh no! I don't believe it!" Jeremy suddenly exclaimed.

"Jeremy?"

"The Scyphozoa stole the sequence code for your human DNA," Jeremy said grimly.

"Ok, XANA plus human DNA is not mixture I like." I bit the edge of my thumb anxiously. "And that is...?"

"Well, when you're virtualized, you keep your DNA sequence code. You can't do without it. It defines your molecular structure and-"

"Jeremy, unless there's a quiz, I don't need the fluff. Get to the point," I urged. I heard him take a deep breath before continuing.

"No DNA, no way to get back to Earth," Jeremy summarized. I heard Aelita let out a gasp at the revelation.

"That's... oh god," I let out. I sat down, my legs unable to support me. Even knowing it was coming, the news was still a world shaker. Held my head in my hands and shook it. "God, Jeremy, I... I can't do that. I have a life here now, hell I almost consider this place more home than where I'm from at this point!" If crying was possible in Lyoko, I would've been. Even though Yumi had gotten out of her situation, there was no guarantee for me. I've no regrets about saving her, but I'd changed the structure of the 'plot' so to say.

And I wasn't lying about their world feeling more home than my own. I missed my friends and family very dearly, but between the constant threat of XANA and the bonds I'd formed with those fighting him with me, it was hard to find time to dwell on them. I'd settled into a nice sort of routine at Kadic, and there were admittedly some days that I forgot that I wasn't originally from there.

"Don't panic, Emily. I'm going to do everything I can to find a solution," Jeremy said calmly.

"What if..." I heard Aelita mutter.

"You have an idea?" Jeremy inquired.

"I think so," she affirmed. "Send me to Lyoko."

"What're you gonna do?"

"Just... trust me this time," Aelita answered vaguely.

"Alright. I'll bring you up close to the tower," Jeremy said, unsure.

 **Kadic**

Yumi walked silently towards the bench where the picture was to take place. She was trying (and mostly failing) to keep a frown from creeping back up on her face, as it had done the entirety of her trek back to school. The scowl was mostly on account of her thoughts on Ulrich. So she had been a little late this morning, fine, be a little upset about that. But then Ulrich had to make assumptions and accusations that were completely unwarranted and unjustified.

What would've been so bad about being with William anyways? She of course, hadn't been. She'd been late on account of some terrible luck and internet connection, but really, she couldn't think of any legitimate reason that Ulrich could possibly have to be mad about that.

She sighed. Other than Ulrich being Ulrich, that is.

She liked Ulrich, possibly even more than a friend (not that she was ready to admit that to the others yet, and especially not Ulrich himself) but he could be so infuriating at times. He could get jealous at the drop of a hat when it came to William, and he often sulked to an annoying degree if things didn't go his way.

And somehow, she still really liked him. Just... not very much the moment.

And Ulrich wasn't the only thing on her mind either. That stunt Emily pulled... it was almost unbelievable the speed that she'd reacted with.

She smiled a little as William waved to her from his place behind the bench. "Hey, Yumi!"

"Hi, William,"

"I thought we'd have to make do without you," William said jokingly. Yumi's smile faltered for a moment, but she quickly regained it. "Something happen this morning?"

"Eh, the others needed my help with something is all," she answered ambigously. William frowned.

"Even so, you seem kinda... upset. Something happen?" William asked.

"I..." Yumi bit the edge of her thumb unsurely. How William "It was just a... misunderstanding, is all." Really, her biggest surprise was that William was able to figure that out so quickly.

His gaze suddenly became more intense. "Was it Ulrich?"

"Uh... I-I um... can we not talk about this?" Yumi then requested. She wanted some time to cool off from dealing with the brunette, and talking about it wasn't helping her much. William said nothing in return, which Yumi decided to take as an acceptance of her request.

"Hm... Anyways, suspension seems kinda rough for missing a picture, don't you think?" William asked, changing the subject. Yumi smirked at him.

"Oh, I don't know. It's no worse than getting expelled for pasting posters everywhere," she joked.

"I still object to you calling them that. They were-"

"Love letters, yes, I know, loverboy," Yumi laughed, and William grinned at her.

"Now you're getting it!" He laughed with her. "But I guess you've got me there,"

"Ahem, children." The chattering amongst students ceased. Mr. Delmas had arrived and was standing next to the photographer with a stern expression on his face. "Yes, well, let's get this over as quickly as possible, shall we?"

 **Lyoko**

I looked over and stopped my pacing as Aelita entered the tower. I stepped out of her way as she walked to the middle of the tower and pulled open an interface, similar to that in Sector 5. She began tapping on it, moving various panels of code around. I rubbed the back of my head in bewilderment. I'll never understand how she can sift through it all so effortlessly.

"Aelita, please tell me what you're up to," Jeremy was practically begging by this point. She continued to ignore him as she made one final adjustment.

"There, process launched," she informed me, looking at me with a smile. I returned it with a confused look.

"Uh, what process?"

"The process of transferring my DNA sequence code over to your virtual structure," Aelita answered. I let out a gasp.

"What!?" Jeremy cried from above us. "Are you crazy!?"

"Jeremy, Emily's place is on Earth. If anyone should stay on Lyoko until we find a solution it's me," Aelita said in explanation. I gave the interface that was to run the program a troubled look.

"I don't agree with that! Aelita, stop it right-" Aelita tapped a button on the interface to mute Jeremy. She looked back at me with a kind of sad smile. "I knew he was going to say that,"

"Have... have you thought about the possible repercussions of this? Aside from Jeremy being mega pissed off at you?" I asked with a slight joking in my tone.

"...If it will help you, then I want to do this," she responded. She wouldn't meet my gaze. I took a deep breath before responding.

"Alright, Aelita." I smiled as she looked back to the terminal. "I really do appreciate this, really. Especially since this Earth technically isn't my own," I gave a sheepish look as I rubbed the back of my head.

"It's still your current home, and you deserve to live on it as much as anyone else,"

" _So do you..."_ I refrained from voicing that thought. SHe tapped on the screen to begin the process and nodded at me. I lened down so that our heads were inches apart. A white beam formed between us. " _I hope she's thought this through..._ "

 **Ulrich and Odd's Dorm**

"I don't see why you're making a huge deal about this," Odd commented as his roommate opened the door. He'd made the comment in jest, he didn't expect him to take this so seriously.

"It's just... ugh," Ulrich groaned and sat on his bed. Kiwi popped up from his little drawer and trotted over to him. Ulrich smiled at him a little and scratched under the mutt's chin before continuing. "What does William have that I don't?"

"Well, he's got all three parts of the phrase, 'tall, dark, and handsome', he doesn't get insanely jealous when someone else looks at Yumi, he doesn't dig deeper than he needs to in her personal life, need I go on?" Odd listed off. Ulrich glowered at him.

"Not. Helping." he said. He did have to inwardly wince at his last point though. While he wasn't regretting asking about it, he was regretting being so aggressive about the topic. He jumped to conclusions and let his emotions cloud his judgement, which got him into this situation.

He really should apologize when he got a chance, he mused.

"Oh come on, Ulrich. Everyone knows that Yumi's crazy about you. Well, except for you, it seems," Odd said with a shrug. When Kiwi found that Ulrich wouldn't give him anymore attention, he ran over to Odd and yipped at him until he was picked up.

Ulrich turned from him and laid back on his bed. He stared at the ceiling intensely. Sure, it seemed so simple to Odd, but he couldn't be certain. Yumi's supposed feelings for him didn't shine through in his eyes. Yeah, she seemed to like his company most days, but so did the others in the group. That was nothing special.

And then there was that kiss they shared on Lyoko. They'd never spoke about it to anyone else, but they also hadn't really discussed it between each other either. Not long after that, he thought he was getting close to being finally able to tell her his feelings and take her reaction for what it would be, but then William stepped into the picture, and he made absolutely no attempts to hide his feelings for Yumi. And that frustrated Ulrich to no end.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard his phone ringing. He answered it. "Hello?"

"Ulrich, listen to me! You guys have got to get back here ASAP!" Jeremy exclaimed. That got Ulrich's attention.

"Did you find the bug?" Odd glanced over at him as he spoke.

"Well, yes, but that's not the point! Aelita is transferring her DNA sequence code over to Emily," Jeremy explained. Ulrich made a blank face upon hearing that.

"Uh, so what? You mean that's not a good idea?" He asked. He really needed to talk to Jeremy about his techno babbling habits.

"No. Aelita doesn't know that when she transfers her code over, her memory will be exposed!" Jeremy elaborated. Understanding washed over Ulrich as he listened.

"So you mean that XANA will just be able to steal it at will?!" Ulrich asked.

"That's right. I'm sure that's why the Scyphozoa attacked Emily. Another one of XANA's evil schemes," Jeremy growled out.

"Then warn Aelita, tell her to stop." Ulrich suggested. If it was that dangerous then he was sure Aelita would listen to reason. Especially if it was Jeremy telling her.

"I can't. Aelita's cut off all communication with the tower, so you've got to get to Lyoko fast! I'll warn Yumi, but please hurry!"

 **Kadic Campus**

As soon as the picture was over, the entire 9th grade class began to disperse. Yumi looked at her phone for a moment, silently wishing for an update on the situation when William's hand landed on her shoulder.

"So uh, I was wondering if you were doing anything this afternoon?" William asked. When she offered no reply other than a surprised stare, he continued with, "There's this great place nearby that has some of the best ice cream."

"Uh, well..." Yumi started awkwardly. She was saved the trouble of thinking of whether or not to accept when her phone started ringing. "Er, hold that thought. Hello, Jeremy?"

"Yumi! We've got an emergency!" Jeremy exclaimed.

"What's wrong?" she asked, frowning. She did her best to ignore the worried look William had flashed her.

"Aelita is trying to transfer her human DNA sequence code to Emily, but what she doesn't know is that if he does that, XANA will be able to take her memory right there and then," Jeremy explained rapidly. Yumi blinked for a moment in surprise.

"Ok, so why don't you tell her-"

"She cut off the towers communication. I can't. I need you and the others to get here ASAP. The transfer only has 8 minutes left to go!" Jeremy instructed. "Ulrich and Odd are already on there way." Yumi gave a nod.

"Ok, I'll meet you there in a few." She stuffed her phone back into her pocket and looked apologetically towards William. "Sorry, but something's come up."

"Is everything alright? It sounded urgent," William inquiered.

"It's uh, nothing that major, but Emily... she needs my help with something," Yumi nodded, satisfied with her quick lie. "Yeah, she needs my help with a math problem. I gotta run, bye!" She quickly darted off before he could stop her. He could faintly hear him mutter an 'Oh, ok. See you," before she was in the forest.

"Girls! You leave them alone for five minutes and it's mess, after mess, after mess!" She heard Odd shout nearby. She rolled her eyes as she sprinted towards them.

"What was that Odd?" She asked from behind him. He flinched at her voice and turned to face her nervously.

"Oh, well, not you but uh..." The purple clad boy made the wise decision to stop talking and pushed open the manhole. Ulrich gave her a quick glance, but said nothing to her. She returned the treatment back, making the trek to the factory a silent one.

Once finally reaching the elevator and heading down, they each ran into a scanner. "Jeremy, let's go," Ulrich said.

"Transfer, Ulrich. Transfer, Odd. Transfer, Yumi. Scanner, Ulrich. Scanner, Odd. Scanner, Yumi. VIRTUALIZATION!"

 **Lyoko, 1st Person POV**

With barely any time left before the final transfer process, Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi, all burst into the tower as fast as they could possibly run.

"Aelita! Stop right now!" Odd shouted.

"If the transfer takes place, XANA will be able to steal all of your memory!" Ulrich exclaimed. My eyes widened at that.

"Aelita, you've got to stop the transfer! Now!" Yumi urged. Aelita quickly ended the process. She also reestablished communication with the tower, as Jeremy's voice rang out only seconds later.

"Aelita, you're so stubborn! That was a silly thing to do!" Jeremy said sharply. She looked down at the floor before looking at the rest of us.

"I'm sorry," she apologized to me. "But I thought I was doing the right thing," she explained.

I shrugged. "Hey, it's not like I knew either. And I appreciate the attempt."

Odd flashed her his signature grin. "You're turning into a real human being." We all quirked a brow him before he continued. "You're beginning to confuse generosity with stupidity,"

"Anyway," Ulrich said, eyeroll included, "we still have no idea how to save Emily,"

"Don't bet on that. I just happen to have a brilliant idea!" Jeremy proclaimed.

"Alright, what is it?" Yumi asked with a piqued look.

"XANA has stolen Emily's DNA code sequence, so it must be in his memory. And how do we get access to XANA's memory...?"

The answer dawned on us all immediately.

"Sector 5!" We all chorused.

"I guess we get that mission in after all. Even if it's a different purpose," I mused.

"Ok, let's move out. If we're fast enough, we might be able to beat XANA before he sends him monsters out." Yumi said.

"Aw, but I wanted to give a little more Odd Acupuncture. I could always use the practice!" Odd whined.

"Lord knows that's true..." I muttered. Ulrich snickered from behind me.

"Hey! That was ONE time!" Odd protested.

"Once is all it takes, Della Robbia!"

 **Sector 5**

One quick trip to the edge of the sector later, and we found ourselves exiting the transporter.

"Ogh, it's a good thing I didn't eat breakfast this morning," Odd groaned. He put a hand on his stomach in a seemingly vain attempt to calm it. We looked around as we waited for the wall to open.

"Er, by the way, Emily, just a small detail: without your human DNA sequence code, you're just as vulnerable as Aelita. If you get hit, you'll disappear forever," Jeremy explained quickly. I rubbed my hand on my face.

"Fantastic..." I muttered. "I've had enough of the whole 'disappearing forever' thing after the incident in the Digital Sea." I said as the wall started to open.

"We've got you covered. Don't worry about it too much." Yumi tried to assure me. "Come on, let's go." We took off, pausing only to allow the wall to open in front of us. This time, it opened to reveal a wide corridor that bent to the right.

"The countdown has started. You have three minutes to get out of the core zone," Jeremy informed us.

"First, we have to find the key," Yumi reminded us all.

"Check at the end of the corridor! I've spotted the mechanism at the end of the room!" Jeremy relayed. I grunted in acknowledgement.

We approached said room quickly. A glance around revealed that this room had one narrow bit of flooring to the key. The rest of the room was nothing but wide open space and blue blocks stacked haphazardly in the distance.

"Yes, I see it over there." Aelita pointed to the key. It rested on the wall directly across from us. I looked around cautiously.

"There's nothing around. I smell a trap," I noted. Without words, it was quickly decided that I absolutely couldn't take the risk of grabbing the mechanism. Odd stepped forward.

"You're probably right, but when you gotta go, you gotta go," Odd said. The cat boy stepped off onto the platform, causing a loud noise to ring out above us. Ulrich gasped as he looked up. A giant column was threatening to crash down onto Odd!

"Odd!"Ulrich cried, and used his Super Sprint to dash forward and push him out of the way.

"Watch out!" Aelita exclaimed as another column started to descend on them. They quickly did a flip out of the way and looked back at the three of us.

"The whole ceiling is a trap! Beat it!" I yelled through cupped hands. The duo wasted no time in following that advice. They ducked and weaved through the columns raining down on them, with each encounter being closer than the last I clutched my sleeve in anticipation.

"Faster guys! You've only got one minute left to turn the key!" Jeremy boomed. I bit my lip as Odd narrowly dodged getting flattened. He backed up from the pillar and kept moving forward. "Move it!"

Odd looked up at a pillar that was going to crush Ulrich and moved instantly. "Timber!" He shoved the samurai out of the way. He was crushed instead, and let out a garbled gasp as he it fell down on him.

"Odd!" Ulrich looked at the spot where Odd was in shock. He didn't have long to dwell on it though, as another pillar came down upon him. He jumped out of the way with a flip, then pushed the key open. "Ok," he looked back at the three of us.

"Good work, Ulrich," Jeremy complimented. The pillars started to rise back up again, allowing the rest of us passage. We ran up and joined Ulrich in the spot he was waiting for us at.

"After you, ladies," Ulrich made a motion to the door and waited for us to pass before following. We stopped in front on the elevator platform.

"Here comes the taxi," I said, prepping myself to jump.

"We'd better not miss it," Aelita noted, looking down in anticipation. "Now!" We all leapt as soon as it whipped by.

We ran forward when the elevator came to a stop at the door to the Celestial Dome. Aelita ran for the terminal, Ulrich and Yumi ran for her sides, and I remained closer to the door. We gazed around, paying careful attention to the walls. Aelita began her work of sifting through the data on screen,

"Aelita, do you know where to find Emily's human DNA sequence code?" Jeremy asked. Aelita's brow furrowed in concentration.

"Not really," she admitted, "but I'll manage somehow."

"That's encouraging," I deadpanned. I gave a peek behind me. The last thing I wanted was for a Creeper to sneak up on me and kill me. I sucked in some breath at the sight of a slight bulge on the wall. "We're running out of time: The Flying Manta nest is going to hatch real soon!"

Ulrich took a small break from his vigilance and glanced back at Yumi with a softer expression. "Um, Yumi? I wanted to apologize for this morning." Yumi looked back at him, but he'd turned around again. "It was none of my business you'd been doing,"

"That's true," Yumi agreed with a nod, "But I'll tell you anyway. I was buying two tickets for the Subsonics concert. And it wasn't easy, bad internet connection," she explained. Ulrich turned back to look at her again. They smiled at each other, causing me to roll my eyes.

" _I swear, it's always the same with these two,_ " A gasp from me brought the two back to our predicament. I pointed to the approaching Mantas when they looked back at me. "Incoming!"

Three Mantas had hatched from the nest. Ulrich stayed near Aelita, and Yumi near me. Both had their weapons at the ready. I pulled out my staff and kept one hand on my cloak. I had one free hit before I would be out, and I didn't intend to make it so easy for XANA. Yumi threw a fan and managed to kill the closest Manta.

"How's it going, Aelita?" I heard Jeremy ask in between the laser fire.

"Nothing yet," she reported. Ulrich deflected a few shots with his saber before he was struck by a shot from behind. As Yumi ducked under a Manta, I noticed the other charging up a shot at me.

"Cloak Guard!" I screeched, throwing up my shield just in time. I heard it shatter. Ulrich rushed to me to deflect a second shot from hitting me.

"That's it! I've got it! I'm transmitting it to you now Jeremy!" Aelita exclaimed frantically.

"I've got it, Emily! I'll download it back to you in a second!" Jeremy began to type as fast as he could. I let out a breath of relief.

"Thank god! I swear to god if XANA ever pulls shit like this again I'm gonna-" I cut myself off when I felt a cool sensation throughout my body.

Then I realized that was because I'd been hit by a Manta laser and was bursting into a series of pixels.

"Emily!"

My world went dark.

 **Real World**

I found myself on the floor of the scanner room when I opened my eyes. I had to blink a few times for the world to come into focus, but I could make out the shapes of the others around me.

I looked at the others for a moment before letting my head hit the floor again. I let out a laugh, not because anything was funny, but because of how relieved I was. I was still alive, able to fight another day.

"How many times am I gonna pass out while devirtualizing?" I asked, still laughing. Ulrich extended his hand to me, which I gladly took. I pulled the three with me, Ulrich, Yumi, and Aelita, into a hug, which caught them off guard. "Thank you..."

 **Kadic, 3rd Person POV**

The group eventually found ourselves near the vending machine, with Odd debating on what he midday snack would be.

"Hm... I could... no, I had those yesterday," he looked towards Emily and huffed. "How do they expect me to pay money for this if it's the same thing everyday?"

Emily rolled her eyes at him. "Odd, it's a vending machine, not a buffet. They don't have to change it's contents out all the time," she said, looking up from a copy of the Kadic News. Odd stuck his tongue out at her. She raised a brow at him, then leaned forward and hit a random button.

"Hey!" Odd frowned when upon seeing what the random choice was. "A bag of peanuts is hardly a snack!"

"Then you should've picked something instead of whining to me about it," Emily countered back.

"As much as I'd love to hear you two squabble, I've got to get going," Yumi said, stretching. "Some of us have plans for later tonight," she said, looking towards Ulrich. The brunette let out a nervous laugh and scratched the back of his head.

Feeling his face turn red, he quickly stood up and said, "Want me to walk with you to the gate?"

"I think I'd like that," Yumi accepted. The two began to walk away from the rest of the group, causing the others to roll their eyes.

"Those two are so blind sometimes it hurts," Jeremy commented as soon as the pair was out of earshot. Everyone nodded in agreement with that.

"Sounds strikingly similar to another pair I know," Emily noted, glancing up at Jeremy and Aelita. The two looked at each other, blushed, and looked away again, muttering about how they had, 'no idea what she meant,", which only made her smirk.

* * *

The smile that had been on Yumi's face vanished as they neared the gate. Ulrich looked up at her and frowned. "Something wrong?"

"Ulrich..." she hesitated for a moment. "Have you noticed anything... off, about Emily?"

He raised a brow at her. "...Are you asking me if I find Emily weird? Cause the answer to that is yes," Ulrich joked. Yumi shook her head.

"No, I mean... well, like today." She tried to explain. Ulrich gave her a lost look.

"How do you mean?"

"Well... she shoved me out of the way when the Scyphozoa showed up," Yumi started, "And know that anyone would've done that, at least in our group but... she wasn't near me when it showed up. She was closer to you and Odd." The Japanese girl gave Ulrich a worried look. "The Scyphozoa barely made a sound before she ran over to me. It was almost like..."

"Like what?" Ulrich wasn't sure he liked where this conversation was headed.

Yumi's gaze became intense for a moment as the thought came to her. "...It was almost like she knew it was going to happen," Yumi closed her eyes for a moment. "And this isn't the first time she's done that either. Remember when she shouted out Scipio?"

The two stopped at the idea. "Yumi, do you think she's hiding something from us?" Ulrich asked.

Yumi paused for a moment, considering the idea. She couldn't remember ever being lied to by the girl, and Yumi knew she was a self proclaimed 'terrible liar', but she couldn't rule out her keeping something larger from them. She finally let out a sigh and looked forward at the gate. "I don't know, Ulrich. I just don't know..."

* * *

 **So, before anyone tries to behead me for changing the structure of the episode, I did really think about it before going through with it!**

 **While creating original attacks is fun for you as readers, and me for being able to prove that I can do more original things, it takes more work. And having the episodes as they are with maybe minor differences every time is kind of boring. So, I changed it, and decided to have Yumi notice that this change occurred. It gave me a chance to practice more with these characters without the use of their canon dialogue, and changing the way episodes work**

 **And I should warn you: this will be happening more eventually. I can't say how much in this season, but it will be happening more. If you don't like it, either give me advice on how to do it better, or leave.**

 **I debated on whether or not to go through with this, as I really liked Sissi's story through this, but I ultimately decided that, since Sissi never really showed the qualities she had in this episode ever again, it wasn't a major mishap to change the episode. I also decided to focus more on Ulrich and Yumi being mad at one another rather than have them be ok after they get back onto Lyoko.**

 **Please review. You guys' words always inspire me to keep going.**

 **Next time we have The Chips Are Down, my least favorite episode of season 2.**


	10. The Chips Are Down

**I'm back! And officially a senior in high school! I'm excited!**

 **And boy I wish I could say the same about this episode! I don't hate it on the level of The Girl of the Dreams, but this one is still pretty dumb in my eyes.**

 **The advantage this one has over my season 1 least favorite though, it the fact that the Lyoko bits are actually kind of fun. A giant army of Krabs and deadly shots on Lyoko. It's a hell of a lot more interesting that "Oh shit! We need to find Aelita! We can't! Oh, Odd's future flash saved the day! Deactivate the tower! End of episode!"**

* * *

Chapter 10: The Chips Are Down

"Hey, everybody," Ulrich greeted as he approached us. In a normal situation, I would've happily (or unhappily, depended on my morning really) waved back to him, but I was still too stunned and slightly upset by the news I'd just received.

"Wow, that's a tough break," Jeremy said sympathetically.

"You've got to be kidding," Odd said.

Yumi closed her eyes and shook her head. "Unfortunately, I'm not,"

"Heyo, what's going on here?" Ulrich tried again.

Aelita put a hand on Yumi's arm in comfort and gazed up at her. "I wish I could do something, Yumi,"

"That's really nice of you, Aelita," Yumi said appreciatively. A ghost of a smile twitched at her lips before it vanished again.

"This can't be the only option, can it?" I asked, the frown on my face deepening. Yumi shrugged her shoulders sluggishly. The dejected look on her face was a hard sight to watch.

"It's only a potential for now, but my parents are considering it," she said sadly. Ulrich looked around at all of our melancholy expressions and struggled to find his words. Finally, he made a confused noise that caught my attention at the very least.

"Would someone tell me what's going on?" he requested. The bell rang at that moment, making the rest of us all look up.

Time for class.

"Look, we'll talk about it after class, ok?" Jeremy said softly, then turned along towards our Italian class. The rest of us joined him, aside from Ulrich, who was beginning to have smoke blow out of his ears.

"Don't mind me. Keep acting like I don't exist, ok?" He called sarcastically to us. We bid Yumi farewell as she made off to her class. Ulrich looked up at her as she passed by him, giving her a confused and concerned expression. Yumi's face remained stony as she continued forward, seeming to ignore his look.

The lot of us took our seats together: Ulrich and Jeremy in the very back, me and Odd in the row in front of them, and Aelita being the odd man out by sitting at the table in front of us. Ulrich gave us all a look as he sat down.

"Ok, what's going on? Why did Yumi look so down? Are her parents fighting again?" Ulrich whispered to us. Odd and I shared a look before turned back to look at him.

"Not exactly. Yumi's family... well, they might be moving back to Japan," I answered as well as I could. I watched Ulrich's face morph from passive, to confused, to angered, and back to bewilderment again.

"Say that again!?" He nearly shouted at us, barely managing to keep his voice a whisper. He looked towards Jeremy or Odd, probably hoping that they'd reveal that I was just pulling his leg and that we'd all laugh about it later.

Odd watched the front for a moment to make sure the teacher, who was busy spouting off about the rules of Italian grammar, wouldn't look over at our conversation. "Yumi's father lost his job. They're thinking of going back to Japan so he can find work," Odd explained briefly. He turned back around. The brunette's eyes widened in horror at the prospect.

"You've gotta be kidding!" he hissed.

"It's not for sure yet, so don't panic," Jeremy tried to assure him. It did little to help though.

Ulrich turned to our resident Einstein with a panicked look about him. "What!? Yumi's leaving, we may never see her again, and I 'shouldn't panic'?" He questioned harshly. He let out a sigh and propped his head up on his hand.

"You know, there is an easy solution" Odd started. I began worry where this was going, because Odd had that dangerously humorous glint in his eye.

"Oh yeah? What?"

"Well, you see, if you marry Yumi, then she can get a green card," Odd answered with a shrug. I rolled my eyes at that, and Ulrich was hardly impressed either.

"Very funny,"

"I'm just trying to lighten things up!" Odd defended. A brief silence followed, which led me to believe that we were just going to talk more later. Ulrich then surprised me by abruptly standing up and raising his hand.

"Sir, per favore, Signore Caja?" Ulrich stuttered through his pronunciations.

"Sì, Ulrich?" The teacher asked.

"Can I please go to the infirmary? I'm not feeling too well," Ulrich lied. The teacher made a face towards him. I thought for a moment that it might be because of how often our group uses that excuse (which I have to wonder how we haven't been banned from even uttering those words). In actuality though, the teacher seemed more off put that Ulrich didn't even bother trying to ask in Italian.

The teacher sighed, but nodded. "Go on." Ulrich walked out as fast as he could. The teacher waited until he was gone before continuing his lesson.

I made a face towards the others, but said nothing.

 **Cafeteria**

The rest of the day was as boring as ever, and dinner rolled around at its usual time. I grabbed my tray and sat down next Aelita. Odd and Jeremy were across from us. A certain brunette was noticeably missing though.

"Where's Ulrich?" I asked. Odd took a moment to pause in his inhalation of his food to answer.

"He said he'd catch up with us later," he said. I let out a noise in acknowledgment. I began to pick at me food and eat it quietly.

"How's your progress been lately, Jeremy?" Aelita asked, breaking the silence between us.

He shrugged a little. "It's been alright I guess. I just feel like I've been running around in circles lately is all," he poked at his food uninterestedly. I gave a reassuring look to him.

"Hey, you felt that way about Code: Earth for awhile too. It's just a matter of time is all," I reminded him. He nodded at that.

"I know that. It's just so frustrating at times," He said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"We could always plan another mission for Sector 5 this weekend," Aelita offered. "There's still so much data in that terminal, we could just not be looking in the right places,"

"Maybe..." Jeremy considered. He put a hand to his chin in thought, rubbing it like the mad genius he is. "There's still some large gaps that have been giving me trouble in the source of the topical programs, and that's not even getting started on-"

"Hold up there, Einstein! If you want another Sector 5 mission, you got it. Just save those of us that don't speak gibberish from whatever speech you were about to give us," Odd cut in, pointing at Jeremy with his fork. Jeremy gave the grinning glutton quite the unimpressed look as he giggled madly. I covered my mouth in an attempt to stop snickering, earning a look from the blond as well. I could see that even Aelita struggling not to smile too. Lord knew we needed that after Yumi's revelations earlier.

I grabbed my glass and took a sip of water after my laughter died down. That's when Sissi decided to stroll by our table. She looked about half ready to make a no doubt insult towards us when she paused, likely scanning over our group.

"Hey, where's Ulrich?" she questioned.

Since no one else spoke up, I decided to bite the bullet and be the one to answer. "Not here," I deadpanned.

"I can see that! I'm not as blind as you are!" she retorted sharply. I scowled at the comment "But where is he? You should know, you're his cousin,"

I rolled my eyes. "How should I know?"

"Well you must know where he's gone! I need to talk with him,"

"Just because we're cousins, doesn't mean I can 'sense' him or something. That'd be like saying Aelita and Odd have special powers just because they're related. That's just stupid," I leaned on my left hand in boredom as I spoke.

Odd got that familiar grin on his face and looked across the table towards his 'cousin'. "I dunno, Emily. I'm feelin' a pretty strong connection with Aelita. You feelin' it too?" Odd asked. He raised his hands to his temples and wore an expression of intense focus.

Aelita suppressed a giggle and nodded. "Oh yes, Odd, I most certainly do." She made the same pose as Odd.

"Oh yeah, I can feel our psychic powers working." Odd closed his eyes and stuck his tongue out slightly, like he was focussing intently on something. "I've got something. I can tell you that..." Sissi leaned in close, seeming to actually believe what was going on. "Aelita's location... is right in front of me!" He let out a laugh that got the attention of the whole cafeteria. The rest of us laughed too, except Sissi of course.

She scoffed at them. "Idiots," she muttered before sauntering off.

"Ok, THAT, was freaking hilarious," I complimented them. That was an even better distraction than the first one. I stuffed the last of my food in my mouth before continuing. "I can't believe that she was actually buying that," I snickered once more.

"It's amazing what people are willing to believe sometimes," Jeremy commented with a chuckle. He stood up with his tray. "I'm heading back to my room. You guys done?" We all agreed wordlessly, with each of us grabbing our trays and placing them on the stack.

"Ulrich never came by. I wonder, is he doing alright?" Aelita noted as we exited the cafeteria. I tried his cell, but he didn't pick up. I shook my head at them as I slipped it back into my pocket.

"I'll go check out our room. Meet you in a few," Odd said before he went ahead of us towards the dorms.

I looked to Jeremy as we entered the building. "I hate to be the one to ask this, but what are we gonna do if Yumi does move? We'd be down from five to four on Lyoko," I asked. Obviously, I knew everything would work out in the end, even if I didn't remember how exactly, but things had changed before thanks to my presence. There was no harm in planning for a potential future.

"I'm... not entirely sure," Jeremy admitted with a frown. "I'd like to say we continue on as normal, but that'll be difficult, to say the least. Manpower aside, I doubt XANA would completely stop targetting her just because she moved away,"

"Not to mention how jarring the returns would be for her. We at least get a warning or reason why it's coming. I couldn't imagine being forced to relive a day and not have a clue why," I thought aloud. I shuttered as I remembered our recent experience with that.

Our poor alarm clock.

"Nothing is set in stone yet anyway. We could be worrying for nothing," Aelita said as we neared the dorm. Jeremy opened the door an allowed us inside. Both Aelita and I sat down on his bed while he sat in his chair. I fidgeted absent mindedly with my fingers as we waited. Odd walked in with Kiwi minutes later, but there was still no Ulrich. The mutt yipped at us as he ran onto Jeremy's bed and near Aelita.

"He's not in our room. I don't know where he is," Odd said, sitting beside me. I frowned at that and reached over to scratch Kiwi's back. The small dog let out a satisfied sigh and closed his eyes.

Aelita's expression shifted to concern. "I get the feeling that Ulrich is taking this situation even harder than we are," she said, looking down slightly as she thought.

"You can say that again. For Ulrich, losing Yumi is... well, imagine how you'd feel if Jeremy had to leave," Odd tried to explain. He smirked as he laid down with his arms behind his head.

Aelita gave him a surprised look for a second as her cheeks turned the same shade as her hair. "Why do you say that?" she asked in a hushed tone.

"'Cause I love making you blush," Odd answered honestly. Jeremy and Aelita shared a look for a moment, then looked away. I let out the snickers I'd been holding in.

And that's when a white bubble engulfed us.

...Are you kidding me!?

 **Kadic Campus**

We were sent back to the point when Yumi had told us the bad news. All of us—sans Ulrich, who had yet to arrive—looked around in utter confusion.

"Ok, I am NOT going through this again! This shit was enough the first time!" I growled. A few other students gave me a strange look, but they were the least of my concerns.

"Wait, what just happened? Why did we return to the past?" Aelita questioned. She looked around us, trying to see if anything looked off from how it did this morning. But everything was exactly as it had been. We had truly returned in time.

Jeremy silently placed his bag on the nearby bench and pulled out his laptop. He opened up the superscan and ran it immediately. I gripped the edge of the bench tightly as I watched.

"Could XANA have taken control of the back in time function? He's done it before," Yumi reminded us.

"No way. I made a special program so he couldn't," Jeremy answered

"He could've found a work around. Much as I hate XANA, it's not stupid." I pointed out. A feeling of dread was beginning to pile up in my stomach.

"Impossible. I spent several days working on the program just to make sure he absolutely couldn't pull that trick again." The superscan stopped, which only made my feeling increase. "And besides, the superscan gives it a clean bill. This is really weird," he pulled the computer back into his bag and stood up. "I'll go to the factory after class and check it out,"

"In any case, time for another dose of the same Italian lesson," I grimaced as the bell rang.

"Or English in my case. I'll meet up with you guys later," Yumi said, then walked towards her class.

Ulrich decided to walk in as we entered the class. "Jeez, there you are," I commented. "You took longer than... well, you did before," I said awkwardly. I rubbed the back of my neck.

"I uh, realized I'd forgotten something," he answered. We made our way to our tables in the back.

"Do you have ideas on why the jump back in time could've happened?" Aelita asked him. "We checked the superscan, but XANA doesn't seem to be involved." She moved to sit next to me, making Ulrich the odd one out this time as Odd sat next to Jeremy.

"No, I'm just as lost as you guys,"

"We're going to the factory after class to check it out. You coming ?" Jeremy asked.

Ulrich shook his head. "No, I uh... I have to uh... study for chemistry,"

"Hey, mind if I study with you? I don't get Mendeleev's periodic table at all," Odd requested. I raised a brow at that. Odd hadn't willingly wanted to study since the last return to the past predicament.

"Hey, I might be able to help you on that. That's something that this one has helped me on," I jerked a thumb towards Aelita, who smiled sheepishly in response.

Ulrich opened a book and looked down at it absentmindedly. "I'd rather study by myself," he answered, glancing back up at us. Odd and I shared a look for a moment.

"If you're sure..." I settled on saying, then turned back around in my seat. The bell rang soon enough, and class began shortly after.

After class, Ulrich was the first out the door. He stood up and left without hardly saying a word to us. He seemed to be looking at some piece of paper that was folded up in his hand.

" _A note card, maybe? For studying?_ " I considered as I put my binder into my bag. I shook my head. Whatever it was, it didn't matter.

"I'm going to check the return logs. Anyone coming with?" Jeremy asked. Both Aelita and I nodded and began to trail behind him as we made our way to the factory.

 **Factory**

Once we completed our usual route, we swung down and entered the elevator. "So, either of you have any ideas on how this could've happened?" I asked. I pressed the button and sent us toward the lab.

Jeremy crossed his arms in deep thought. "Honestly, no. The superscan doesn't lie, and there is no activated tower,"

"Not to mention the protection program would've blocked any attempts XANA could've made at it. And notified us that it happened," Aelita added as the doors creaked open to the lab.

"The only way to find out is to check the return logs. They'll show if any returns to the past were abnormal," Jeremy explained as he sat in his chair. He quickly pulled up the return program and began to run scans through it. He frowned when they completed moments later. "I don't get it. XANA had nothing to do with it. It's as if some had set off the return to the past from here," Jeremy said, scratching the back of his head.

"But aren't you and Aelita the only ones who know how to properly execute it?" I pointed out.

"Exactly my point," Jeremy confirmed. Aelita narrowed her eyes at the screen. She looked back at the two of us, an idea having struck her.

"Unless someone read your manual," she noted.

"What makes you say that?" Jeremy asked. She made a face at Jeremy that did little to answer the question for him.

I pulled my phone out when I felt it buzz in my pocket. "Hello? Yumi?"

"Emily, did Jeremy run the scan?" she asked. She sounded like she was two seconds away from decking the nearest person.

"Uh, yeah. XANA's not involved if that's what you want to know,"

"Then I may have solved our little mystery. Can you three meet me on campus?" It was more a suggestion than a request.

"Sure. Give us a few minutes," I replied. She hung up after that. I turned back to see Jeremy and Aelita looking at me curiously. "Yumi may have the answer to our predicament." Jeremy nodded and stood up from his char.

Aelita gave the computer logs one last frown before following us out.

 **Kadic**

"So, what's the mysterious reason for our sudden time travel?" Odd asked as he approached. He was the last to arrive, aside from Ulrich, who Yumi had requested we not contact.

Yumi said nothing, only pulled out a small, crinkled piece of paper.

"What's that?" Aelita asked. I took the paper from her hand and opened it.

"A lottery ticket?" I questioned. I gave Yumi a bewildered look as I handed it back to her.

"They're today's winning numbers. My family had it," Yumi answered, gripping the ticket until her knuckles turned white. She only barely avoided growling out her response to us.

"Your family? But I thought your dad didn't like gambling?" Odd said. I could vaguely remember her mentioning it in the past.

"It wasn't them who bought it. It was Ulrich," she explained. It took a moment to process her words, but then realization hit me like a ton of bricks. It washed over the others just as hard, with Jeremy and Odd's face contorting into anger, and Aelita closing her eyes, like she had suspected it.

"H-he wouldn't..." I couldn't finish the thought. I grabbed onto my jacket sleeves, tugging at one of them tightly.

"But he did," Jeremy answered. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the ground.

"He was the only one not with us before the return..." Odd muttered in disbelief, probably wondering how none of us put two and two together before. His face alone spoke of the utter betrayl he felt.

Aelita's gaze wandered to behind Jeremy and me. Ulrich was approaching with his hands in his pockets. "Hi," he greeted.

"Hi, Ulrich. You know, I'm really impressed by your computer skills," Jeremy said mockingly. Ulrich gave him a confused look.

"Who, me? You are?" he questioned, missing Jeremy's jab.

"Well, I'm impressed myself, considering you managed to launch a return to the past without making a single mistake," I said with an acidic tone. I kept my gaze towards the ground. "So yeah, Ulrich. Color me impressed." I lifted my head to see his now worried expression.

He decided to continue his act. "Wh-what are you talking about?"

"Don't waste your breath. We know it was you who set off the return to the past," Yumi said sharply.

"You broke rule number one, Ulrich. I can't believe it!" Odd chided him.

"I only did it for Yumi. So you could stay," Ulrich argued. As if that made it all justified.

"I didn't ask for your help," Yumi answered cooly. Ulrich looked at all of us, but none of us said anything in his defense.

"Do you realize what you've done, Ulrich? You know going back in time makes XANA stronger!" Jeremy snapped.

"Why didn't you talk to us first, huh? Why did you have to go sneaking around?" Odd asked, but really wasn't expecting an answer.

"I'm sorry..." Ulrich muttered. He looked down to the ground, the reality of his actions having finally set in for him.

"'Sorry' doesn't fix anything. XANA is still stronger now than he was before," I said, grabbing another fistful of my jacket sleeve.

"You betrayed our trust!" Jeremy exclaimed.

"Here, you can take back your dumb ticket. My parents think you should keep the money." Yumi said, throwing the crumpled ticket to the ground. She walked past him without sparing a second glance.

"As of now, and until you hear otherwise, you're out of the group, Ulrich," Jeremy decided. Both he and Odd walked off.

Aelita followed, but paused for a moment and placed a hand on Ulrich's shoulder. "I hope this will all work out," she said before following the others.

Ulrich said nothing as he bowed his head. I ran a hand through my hair and let out a deep sigh.

"I know why you did it, Ulrich," I began. His head snapped towards me, but my gaze was towards the ground. "I know you had a good intent, but intent doesn't always reflect actions. There were other ways to help, and the biggest would've been to wait and see if things were resolved! There was no guarantee that she WAS moving away!" I pinched the bridge of my nose as I turned around to walk away. "I'll see you around, Ulrich, and hopefully under better circumstances,"

Ulrich said nothing as I ran over to catch up with Odd, Jeremy, and Aelita.

 **History Class**

"Africa is the continent that suffers most from problems related to shortage of water and rural areas of Africa are affected to an even greater extent. Less than half of all rural zones have access to water and..." Mr. Fumet dragged on and on.

Odd let out a noise from in front Jeremy and me. "Wow, and when I think of how much we complain all the time," he remarked.

I shrugged. "Sure, but it's hard to care as much when you're forced to constantly compare the woes of your own life to theirs, like my American teachers liked to do," I whispered back. Sure, it sounded harsh, but was an example they LOVED to use when we didn't do certain things, like eat all our food.

I saw Jeremy shuffle through his bag beside me and pull out his laptop. He opened it up and grimaced as the superscan popped up.

XANA was on the offensive.

"XANA has launched an attack," Jeremy informed the others. They looked back in shock.

"What!?" Aelita whispered harshly.

"We've got about a minute left in here. We get Yumi, go to the factory, and deactivate the tower before XANA gets the jump on us," I explained.

"Without Ulrich?" Odd asked.

"Without Ulrich," Jeremy said without any hesitation. I looked over to where Ulrich sat. He was away from us and sitting next to Sissi. I felt a little bad for him, but I was still mostly mad at him.

The bell rang only moments later, and the four of us were out the door. Ulrich didn't even bother trying to follow, if he even noticed us.

We dropped by the science building to pick Yumi up before dashing towards the factory as fast as we could. After our usual trek, Yumi, Aelita, Odd, and I found ourselves in the scanner room.

"Ladies first," Jeremy said as the scanners opened. The three of us all stepped inside. "Transfer, Aelita. Transfer, Emily. Transfer, Yumi. Scanner, Aelita. Scanner, Emily. Scanner, Yumi. VIRTUALIZATION!"

 **Desert Sector**

The three of us landed as usual, and Odd quickly followed. The sector was clear of visible monsters for the moment, but we all knew better than to expect it would stay that way.

"Here come your vehicles," Jeremy announced. Three outlines appeared in front of us of the Overboard, Overwing, and Overkart.

"Madame," Odd called to Aelita, "Would you do me the favor of climbing aboard my humble... board?" he joked. She smiled and let out a giggle before stepping onto it. I climbed into my Overkart.

"The activated tower is located two plateaus north," Jeremy said. The tower wasn't visible from where we were.

"Ok, let's go," Yumi said. We all took off at a decent speed. Minutes passed by without any trouble. And that was... well, troubling.

"No monsters on the horizon for the time being," Jeremy reported.

"It's not monsters I'm worried about: It's XANA attacking on Earth," Yumi admitted, looking to Odd and me. "We don't know what he's go in store for us this time,"

"Yeah, well I'd rather we deactivated the tower before we find out," Jeremy responded.

"You know, we always say that, and that's exactly when everything blows up in our faces," I commented. I heard a noise to our right that sounded suspiciously like a gruff growl.

So did Aelita, evidently. "Look! Over there, a Krab!" she exclaimed, pointing at the lone monster. And then another showed up. And another. And about 30 more behind it.

"Speaking of things blowing up in our faces..." I groaned. " _Why do I always have to be right?_ "

"Are my eyes playing tricks on me, or there at least 20 of them?!" Yumi asked in disbelief.

"There are no mirages on Lyoko, Yumi," Aelita answered, looking at the whole army of Krabs at our side with an anxious expression.

"That's what I was afraid of," Yumi responded.

"By the way, thanks for warning us, Jeremy!" Odd criticized. His expression changed when there was no response. "Jeremy?" he asked nervously. The blond never answered.

"Fantastic. He's out of commission for god knows what reason. Just what we needed," I grumbled. I glanced back at the Krabs and gulped. They were increasing in numbers. "No Jeremy and an entire ocean's worth of Krab population to fight off, or at least dodge. Just perfect." It was at that moment that a nasally, psychotic laugh that even the most insane person on Earth would be jealous of rang out through the sector.

"Jeremy, was that you?" Yumi asked. "Answer me, will you?"

It was Odd who answered. "That isn't Jeremy. I'd recognize that laugh anywhere. It's Nicholas,"

"Nicholas?" Yumi and I shared a look of incredulity. "Are you sure?"

"No one else has a laugh that dumb, no one else in the whole universe!" Odd affirmed. The clang of the Krabs movement became suddenly much more audible.

"Watch out! The Krabs!" Aelita warned. I looked back and tightened my grip on my wheel.

"They're gaining on us, and I don't like our chances against this many of them. We need to get out of here," I ordered. I slammed on my pedal to speed up. Odd and Yumi offered no protests and immediately followed my action. Odd pulled ahead of the both of us as the Krabs started to fire.

I tugged on my controls and took to the skies and flew above the geisha. She moved the Overwing left and right to dodge the lasers, but she couldn't keep it up forever. One of the lasers struck her in the back and sent her spiraling out of control. The Overwing spun around for a few seconds before Yumi sailed past me. The purple vehicle finally exploded when another laser hit it.

"Yumi!" I shouted, and began to pull back down. Another Krab decided to play some target practice with me. Another laser hit the side of my kart and sent me crashing down near the fallen form of Yumi. I stood up to start running to her, but that's when I was struck in the foot.

I let out a horrible scream before tumbling to the ground. A burning pain shot up from my foot and echoed throughout my whole body. My left foot felt like it was on fire, a sharp, stinging feeling that kept on lingering. I clutched it tightly and pulled it closer to me, hoping by some luck that the pain would go away. I cringed at the feeling. This was the worst pain I'd ever felt on Lyoko. And there was no way it was normal.

"Yumi! Emily!" Odd cried. He made a sharp turn on his board and veered back toward us. He slowed down in front of us before doing a flip off and crouching down to us. "Are you two ok?"

"I think my foot is broken..." I whimpered. Everytime I tried to let go of my foot, the pain became worse. It felt just as bad as it likely would in real life. But that should've been impossible.

Yumi crawled onto the Overboard with a groan. "I don't understand, why does it hurt so much? Shouldn't we just lose some life points?"

"Something must be wrong at the factory," Odd guessed. Aelita gulped as she looked back.

"Odd, the Krabs. We need to take cover," she instructed. The Overboard turned with Odd and Aelita as they looked at a nearby rock.

I lifted my arms up as I tried to stand. "Help me, please," I asked. The two still standing Lyoko Warriors quickly rushed to my side and assisted me and climbing over to the other side of the rock. I gulped as I heard the Krabs chuff from the other side.

We were in big trouble.

 **Gym**

Ulrich let out a grunt as he practiced another form. Penchak silat was one of the few things he felt he could focus on at the moment.

Of course, he would've been able to focus on it better if Sissi hadn't decided to hang around.

"You're even more handsome when you train," she called from his side. He glanced over at her in irritation.

"Sissi, I think I'd rather be alone," he stated as politely as he could manage. One could only be so polite to the girl before they'd go insane, Ulrich felt. She waved her hand dismissively at the idea.

"Are you crazy? That's the last thing you need when you're feeling down. It's just the opposite, you need your friends to be there!" Sissi said.

Ulrich fought back the wry smile trying to worm it's way onto his face. " _If only she knew,_ " he thought. "I don't have friends anymore," he said evenly, then shifted into a kick.

"Well, what about me? What does that make me then?" Sissi asked. Ulrich rolled his eyes as he turned his back to her. He'd only sat next to her in class because she was the only other person he kind of knew in his classes. Really, he thought, he should've expected her to latch onto him; that oversight was kind of stupid in hindsight.

The door opened to reveal Herb, who looked at Sissi in relief. "Oh, Sissi, there you are! I've been looking all over for you,"

Her eye roll practically dripped into her voice. "Well, pretend I'm not here and keep on looking. Why don't you go out and play with your friend Nicholas?"

"I would, but I can't find him either. He ran off like a madman after class to follow Jeremy, Odd, Emily, and the new girl," Herb explained. Ulrich looked over in alarm as he continued his moves. "He was really spaced out; his voice sounded weird, and there was something strange about his eyes,"

That was all Ulrich needed. "XANA," he whispered. He looked towards the door to the boiler. Whatever the group said be damned, he wasn't about to let the others get themselves killed by whatever plot XANAfied Nicholas had in mind. While Sissi was distracted, he moved as quickly and quietly as he could and slipped out the door.

 **Lyoko**

Aelita crouched down beside us with a concerned expression. My foot was doing slightly better, but it was still hurting. Yumi was still lying on the ground with labored breaths.

Odd looked over at the top of the rock. "I'll go and check it out." He sprang onto his all fours and sprinted up the rock. He peeked over the edge for a moment before looking back down at us. "We'd better move. Otherwise-" Odd cut himself off as a laser hit his shoulder and forced him back onto the ground. "Oh, wow! That really does hurt."

Aelita then looked at the top with a determined expression. "My turn," she decided.

"Aelita, be careful!" I warned her. The Krabs likely wouldn't fire anything beyond a warning shot at her, but still. I looked back up when I heard her begin to sing. A wall of shifting sand formed between our spot and them. A mountain of rock next to us protected us from another approach. Judging by the loud crashing noise I heard, the wall seemed effective.

"It won't take them long to find a way around,"Aelita said as she slid back down to us.

"Still, that's some much needed extra recovery time. I stood up shakily, balancing myself on one foot. I put my other foot down gingerly and winced a bit. It still hurt, but I'd have to make due for the time being.

 **Lab**

Ulrich let out a gasp as the elevator doors opened. Jeremy wasn't in his chair, rather, he was sitting against a wall, unconscious.

"Maybe I'm the one you're looking for!" A distorted voice rang out from above. Ulrich looked up to find a crazed looking Nicholas gleaming down at him from the ceiling. He let out a gasp when Nicholas started to crawl along the ceiling like he was. He was ready when he launched himself from the wall, and did a cartwheel to avoid it.

Nicholas then leapt onto the wall again and climbed back up no problem. "Wow, since when did you become an athlete? I don't believe it!" Ulrich exclaimed. He did a kick up into the air as he was dive bombed, but found his foot only went through him and barely fazed him. "Huh?" He barely had time to process it before he was punched in the gut and landed near the unconscious blond.

He glanced towards the elevator with an idea in mind. "Hold on, Spider-Man, I'm not out yet!" He picked himself up and raced towards the elevator as fast as he could. He could hear shuffling behind him. As Nicholas approached, he did a tuck and roll out of the door right as they closed. He then pulled out a few wires from and exposed panel linked to the elevator. He heard he squelch to a stop before letting out a sigh of relief.

Of course, Jeremy was still out cold. "Jeremy, wake up, will you? You've gotta get up!" Ulrich exclaimed as he shook the genius' shoulders.

'Hey, hi, Ulrich..." Jeremy slurred as his eyes opened, a glassy look over them. "How are you?"

"Jeremy, pull yourself together! I need your help!" Ulrich exclaimed.

"...Because I'm not feeling so great," Jeremy murmured, continuing as if Ulrich hadn't spoken to him. His head hit the metal floor again. Ulrich let go of Jeremy's turtleneck and looked over to the chair. He pulled the ear piece on.

"Odd, Yumi, Emily, Aelita, can you hear me? Answer me!" he exclaimed.

"Ulrich, is that you?!" Yumi exclaimed.

"Oh, great. You're alive," Ulrich breathed out.

"Yeah, I guess so," Emily muttered.

"We're in bad shape, Ulrich," Odd said.

"What about Jeremy?" Aelita asked worriedly. Ulrich glanced over to the still unconscious form of their resident Einstein.

"He's also in pretty bad shape." It was then Ulrich noticed the monitor. The voice boxes that appeared for when they talked were there, but that was it. No map, no scanner logs, nothing. "I don't get it, there's nothing on the screens."

"That can't be good," Emily said. "That's probably why XANA's fire hurt us so much. The scanners must be altered,"

Ulrich looked back over at Jeremy and sighed. "I'm really sorry about this, Jeremy, but it's for a good cause." He lightly backhanded him, jerking him awake.

"Ouch! Wh-what's going on?" Ulrich placed his glasses back on Jeremy's face.

"There's a lot missing on the screen, and I've got no idea how to fix it. The others are saying that the shots on Lyoko are hurting for real," Ulrich rapidly explained. That got Jeremy moving. He launched himself back into his seat and started typing.

"Nicholas has deactivated the scanner. I should be able to fix it pretty fast," Jeremy said, his lightning fast fingers already in action.

"Jeremy, I uh, wanted to tell you-"

"Later! Head for the scanner and get ready!" Jeremy ordered. Ulrich nodded and ran for the ladder.

 **Lyoko**

We all looked around when we heard a noise on the other side.

"What was that noise?" Odd asked, interrupting our briefing from Ulrich. We all looked at one another before climbing back up. Aelita let out a gasp as the lead Krab began to push itself through the shifting sands. I winced as the wall disintegrated when it made it to the other side.

"It's just what I was afraid of: the Krabs have broken through the sand wall," Aelita said dismally.

"Ok, unless you're currently a cripple like me, don't drag your feet!" I shouted as we slid down. The Krabs were coming straight for us. We took off as fast as we could away from there; we could be too easily boxed in. Lasers were flying all around us, so it was only matter of time before one of us was hit again. Yumi let out a cry as she was struck in the torso and send flying past us.

"Yumi, no!" Odd cried. Right as though things looked bad though, she gained a sudden look of confidence. She did one of her signature handsprings and landed back on her feet to continue running with us.

I gasped in realization as the dull, throbbing pain in my foot vanished completely. "Oh thank god!"

"We're invincible again!" Odd cheered. I grabbed hold of my staff as we neared the edge of the sector.

"I don't know if 'invincible' is the word I'd use, Odd. We can still be devirtualized. These numbers still aren't fantastic," I reminded him as I ducked under another laser.

"Then let me try and even them a little! I'm sending in Ulrich," Jeremy informed us. I nodded at the info. His previous actions be damned by that point, we needed help.

Odd jumped onto a rock, dodging lasers as he climbed, then leapt off. "Laser Arrow!" He fired a few shots and took out one of the Krabs. He did a roll as he landed to avoid a few more blasts.

Yumi and I were on defensive, with me standing near Aelita. I pulled her behind me as a barrage of lasers came our way, and raised my cape in from of us. "Cloak Guard!" I grunted as I took in the blasts until my barrier shattered. Aelita gave me a concerned look as my arm became covered in electricity, but there was no time. I pulled her with me as I rolled to some nearby rocks for cover. "Magic Blast!" I exclaimed, and fire it to a Krab on my left. It exploded as soon as it was hit.

Ulrich landed near us, only to be immediately knocked back by a laser to the chest. He recovered quickly and slowly began to move up as he blocked the shots with his saber. "Hi guys. Didn't miss me too much, didja?" He asked teasingly.

Yumi gave him a smile. "Oh just a little, yeah," she answered, somewhat out of breath.

Odd did another roll to the side as he joined us. "Yeah, but those guys aren't going to keep missing us if we stick around," he pointed out. I looked over to the tower. It wasn't too far off.

Of course, the Krabs figured this too, so they all decided to congregate there in several long lines. "This is gonna be tricky..." I said.

"Your vehicles are on the way. They could come in handy," Jeremy said right as they materialized in front of us.

"Well, it'll certainly help. Now all that's left is to cross this freaking ocean," I said sarcastically.

"You, Yumi, and Ulrich should go over the top." Odd suggested.

"What about you?" Yumi asked. Odd gave her a cheeky grin and he crouched onto all fours.

"I'll do what I do best: chef's surprise," Odd answered. He leapt onto his board and looked back. "C'mon, Aelita, we haven't much time,"

We watched from a distance. Odd, true to his word, surprised us by not flying over them, but under them instead. Each Krab he passed under fired a whitish-blue light from its underbelly, which he had to maneuver around each time.

"I... didn't even know the Krabs could do that," I admitted as I stared.

"He's really lost it this time," Ulrich remarked. Yumi gave him a playful smirk.

"No more than you have. Come on, let's go." We speed forward on our vehicles. Yumi and I immediately took to the skies while Ulrich remained grounded until he jumped off a rock as a ramp. He passed few Krabs from overhead, which he stabbed with his sword. Three Krabs exploded as he sped away from the first line, allowing Odd's safer passage.

Yumi weaved side to side as she avoided more lasers. She took off even higher into the air. Now able to avoid being hit by lasers, she sent both of her fans flying away and straight into two Krabs. Odd let out a cheer as he passed under the remaining distracted Krabs.

I followed Odd and Aelita from overhead. I heard him let out a groan. "Oh no, another row of those guys!" These Krabs seemed to have figured out our strategy. There was only one single line of them, but they all fired in sync, including their underbelly blasts. Odd dodged several lasers blasts with ease and tried to go under, but was forced to fall back to avoid a wall of blasts.

I heard Ulrich approach from behind me. "Stop moving around so much! How do you expect me to help you?!" Ulrich exclaimed.

"Hey! Cut me some slack, ok? I'm just trying to avoid getting hit!" Odd protested as he dodged another shot.

I looked at a Krab that Odd would be nearing soon. He just needed one opening to get through. "Ulrich!: I exclaimed, looking back at him. "Cover me! I've got an idea!" He nodded and flew near me to deflect incoming blasts.

I make a wide turn, first going away from my designated target, but then going fast towards it. I let my grip on my wheel relax a little as I prepared. Time seemed to move slowly for me as I jumped out of my Kart and kicked it toward the Krab. "Ulrich!" I shouted as I began to fall. The Overbike revved from behind me and sped forward to catch me right as the monster was it. And unlike with the Megatank, this time the monster exploded.

"Haha, yeah! Death by car accident DID work with time!" I cheered. I heard Ulrich chuckle in front of me as I watched Odd pass through the gap I'd made in the line.

"Jeremy, I think we've done it," Ulrich reported, looking toward the sky.

"Ulrich, you are the greatest," Jeremy complimented.

"Hey, it was MY idea! Where's my credit?" I asked with a smirk. I wasn't mad. Without Ulrich, we'd have probably been screwed. I watched as Aelita entered the tower, and sighed in relief when it turned blue.

"So, who's ready to go home?" I asked.

 **Infirmary**

Carrying Nicholas back to the school without arousing suspicion was difficult, but we somehow managed.

"You say this is how he was when you found him?" Jim asked, a hand to his chin.

"Yeah, in the middle of the campus," Jeremy explained.

"Hm..." Jim seemed to buy it at least.

"That's very strange. He must've fainted," Yolanda surmised. "Nothing serious in any case,"

With no more questions, we were free to go. Yumi looked at Ulrich as we exited the admin building. "I know you did it for me, Ulrich"

"But I should've asked you first," he finished.

"And really not have used a return trip in general, but y'know, I think you learned your lesson on that," I added. He nodded.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. Jeremy placed a hand on his shoulder and nodded at him.

"So, are you back in the group?" Aelita asked, placing her hand on his other shoulder. He looked around at us all.

"Hmm... looks like it," he said.

"Hey, what are you gonna do with that lotto ticket?" Odd inquired. Right... none of us could exactly use it. Ulrich technically shouldn't have even had it.

"I thought about it, and I decided to give it to an association that builds wells in Africa," Ulrich said. I nodded. A very respectable use of that money indeed.

"Really? Oh, that's a great idea," Yumi agreed. SHe pulled her phone out when it rang. "Yes? Yeah mom, I'm listening... Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Ok, I'll see you tonight," she looked at all of us. "My father's found work with Takahashi," she announced. We all tried to hide our cringes at that.

"Takahashi? You mean... in Japan?" Ulrich asked.

Yumi looked back at al of us with a grin. "No, silly! Right here!" she exclaimed. We all gave each other ecstatic looks. Yumi was staying! Yumi ruffled Ulrich's hair, causing him to gain a sheepish grin and blush. The rest of us let out a cheer.

A well deserved piece of good news after the day we had.

* * *

 **Hm, in hindsight, this episode isn't as bad as I thought. It's still not that GOOD mind you, and it still remains my least favorite episode of season 2, but the Lyoko bits do stand out more than usual the shows usual fare.**

 **Ulrich using a RTTP was still really stupid.**

 **In any case, that's all for this time. With summer here for me, I'll have until July to get stuff done. As before, my goal is at least halfway done, but we'll see what happens.**


	11. Marabounta

**Sup! Today, we tackle a fan favorite episode: Marabounta! While this IS definitely in my top 10 for season 2, it's not my favorite.**

 **But we are fast approaching it, I assure you.**

 **Marabounta is a very strong Lyoko based episode, and it even uses early 2000's CGI to it's advantage! It didn't try and use Marabounta as a liquid, as was common for animation like that then, but just an enemy. And it blends into Lyoko pretty well. It's still unnatural to Lyoko, obviously, but I don't look at it and go "that doesn't belong there" in the sense of the animation being the problem.**

* * *

Chapter 11: Marabounta

Another typical day, which meant another series of classes to endure. We were in Mrs. Hertz's class, studying about different insect behaviors, ants in particular this time. The whole class was gathered near her front desk to inspect a large tank containing an ant colony. I looked on from the back of the group as a line of ants marched on a small stick in the tank. Jeremy was at the front, leaning in and looking on inquisitively.

"Ants are social creatures, like termites or like bees. A single individual is incapable of any personal initiative; all of the decisions are made by the colony," Mrs. Hertz lectured. "Ants receive a few simple orders: search for food, mark the path leading to the food, and follow a marked path. As a result, we might have the impression that each ant is rather clever. And in fact, this has more to do with a collective intelligence,"

Odd let out a snort. "You mean an army of Sissis could be intelligent? Huh, I don't believe it," he joked. The whole class burst into laughter, aside from Sissi of course.

"Very funny. Shut up, bird brain," she scoffed. I wiped a tear from my eye as my laughter died down.

"Settle down, class," Mrs. Hertz said sternly. The laughter ceased seconds later, prompting her to continue. "As I was saying, thanks to their numbers, they manage to accomplish some very difficult tasks, such as finding food, or defending themselves against an attacker. It would seem that ants would even be able to wage full scale wars between different colonies." she explained.

"What about killer ants? Do they exist?" Ulrich suddenly asked. Mrs. Hertz looked back at him with an amused smirk.

"Well, yes, maybe in movies, Ulrich," she answered with a laugh. Most of the class joined her. "But there are in fact army ants that destroy everything in their path, and it's true that you'd best save out of their way,"

"And uh, do any of those filthy bugs live around here?" Sissi asked with a flash of concern.

"Nah, it'd be too cold around here for them. They like it where it's warmer. They stick mostly to living in South America," I answered, looking to Mrs. Hertz for any potential corrections.

"That's correct, Emily. I'm glad at least someone has been studying," she said with a harshness directed at the rest of the class. I rubbed my neck sheepishly as I began to hear the common 'teacher's pet' whispers fly around. "In any case, the phenomenon in those countries is referred to as 'marabounta'.

"Phew! I'm glad I live in a country where there's no danger!" Sissi breathed. The bell rang moments later. The class shuffled towards the door as fast as they could.

" _If only she knew,_ " I thought. I reached down to grab my bag. As I went to leave, I noticed Jeremy still standing there, entranced by the ants. I cleared my throat.

"Huh?" He looked back at me.

"Time for lunch, Einstein," I informed him. He looked back down at the ants with a slight smile before nodding.

"Right, I'm coming,"

 **Cafeteria**

Jeremy and I joined the others shortly after I pulled him away from his insect cafeteria was full of the chattering those around us and the clanking of the dish ware.

Odd was scarfing down his food at an actually reasonable pace for once, or at least reasonable compared to his usual gusto. He stabbed his fork into one of his potatoes and grinned as he munched on it.

"Saturday is my favorite day; no school in the afternoon," he noted.

"I like Sundays better: no school at all," Ulrich replied.

"Personally, I miss back home. I had no school Saturday or Sunday," I added.

"Seriously? Man, why can't we have that instead?" Odd then whined. I snickered at his indignant expression.

"You seem worried, Jeremy. What's on your mind?" Aelita asked, looking towards the blond, who had been staring out of the window silently for most of the period.

He looked back at her. "Franz Hopper's notes, Aelita,"

"Is this a good thing with the notes or a bad thing?" I questioned.

"Well, last night I decoded a really interesting part about a multiagent system," Jeremy began. "It's a computer application that follows the principle of an ant hill. What happens is-"

"Oh no! Mrs. Hertz has already bored us to tears with all that ant stuff. Don't you start now," Odd cut in. I couldn't stop myself from laughing with him, Yumi, and Ulrich. Jeremy sent us all a sharp look.

"Seriously! This time I might've found a way to weaken XANA. Let's meet at the factory after lunch, I'll explain everything." Jeremy looked over in surprise when Aelita stood up.

"Well, normally I'd love to, but I have to finish my Italian homework. See you," Aelita explained before walking away. Jeremy looked at the rest of us expectedly.

"Uh, I have to practice for a skateboard competition," Odd quickly managed. He then stood up and walked off as well.

"Yumi?" Jeremy offered.

"Sorry, I've got swimming after school. Bye," she waved to us as she walked off. Ulrich watched as she made her way towards the door where William was waiting for her.

"What about you, Ulrich? Are you doing anything later on?"

"Yeah, I've gotta be somewhere," he answered cryptically.

"Oh yeah? Where?"

"The swimming pool," Ulrich answered, then abruptly stood up to trail behind William and Yumi.

"That's likely not going to end well for him..." I sighed and turned back around in my chair. I flinched a little at the gaze Jeremy was giving me.

"Emily? Please?" he asked.

I really didn't want to go, but... what excuse did I have?

"Oh... alright," I said. Jeremy's expression perked up immediately.

"Great! I'm ready whenever. What about you?" Jeremy asked, motioning to our practically empty trays.

"Yeah, let's go,"

 **Lab**

The trek to the lab was as boring as ever. But at least we weren't rushing to get there due to an impending doom this time, so that's always a plus.

I looked over at Jeremy as the elevator doors opened. "So, ants, huh? You really think this plan of yours will work,"

"Sure I do. Hopper was beyond his time in his work, and it's based off of his notes. I don't see any reason that it shouldn't," Jeremy responded. He looked forward as the door opened and headed for his usual spot. I noticed a stack of books about ants near his chair. He must've been looking into this for awhile.

"It sounds too good to be true, honestly," I said. I looked away from the books and back at him with a clear worried expression. "Are we even sure that this thing is safe?"

"I've been running preliminary tests for the past few days just to make sure it would be safe. They've all come back completely normal," Jeremy assured me. "I wouldn't even be trying to put it on Lyoko now if I didn't think it was safe to do so,"

I looked at the screen. I still had a bad feeling about this program, but I also wasn't going to learn anything by hesitating. "I guess we won't know unless we try, so go for it." I didn't miss the glint of excitement in Jeremy's eyes. "Just... maybe only try it in one sector for now?" I suggested.

"That was the plan anyway. Let's try it on the Forest Sector," Jeremy agreed. He stretched his fingers and cracked them in preparation. "Ok, here we go,"

"Moment of truth time..." I muttered as he typed. A small window popped up on screen. It had many spheres appearing inside of it, multiplying at a fast pace.

"Everything seems to be working," Jeremy noted, studying the confusing window with ease.

"...If you say so," I said and scratched the back of my head. Jeremy glanced at me for a moment and gave a determined nod.

"Transfer prototype. Scanner, virtualization!" Jeremy said. He gazed at the screen with an intense look. "C'mon...Yes! Franz Hopper, you're a genius! And so am I," Jeremy suddenly exclaimed, making me jump.

I looked at the screen curiously. The map of the sector had appeared, but it looked a little different. A flashing red and green... substance, of some sort had begun to cover the land in one portion of the forest. I raised my eyebrow and let out an impressed noise.

"So, that Christmas party there on screen is your program? Your... ants?" I asked.

"...What exactly do you mean by 'Christmas party'?" Jeremy questioned in confusion.

"Well, it's flashing red and green! Y'know, like how those colors are associated with the winter holidays!" I defended, motioning towards the screen. I laughed as he let out an exasperated groan at my antics. "You know I'm right!"

"You're impossible, you know that?" My grin widened at his comment. He let out another sigh and shook his head. "Nevermind. To answer the important part of your question, yes those spheres on Lyoko are the 'ants' so to speak."

"More like elves," I laughed.

"Emily, I swear to god- ugh, just call Odd,"

 **Ulrich and Odd's Dorm**

Kiwi let out a tiny bark as Odd opened the door, his skateboard tucked under his arm carefully. He looked over to his left to find Ulrich there with a sour look about him. He'd known the brunette long enough to know exactly what was going on: Ulrich was sulking.

"What's the matter?" Odd asked almost immediately.

"Nothing," Ulrich grumbled. Odd rolled his eye and merely rolled his board back into it's usual spot. HIs phone rang before he could do anything else.

"Emily?"

"Hey, Odd! Jeremy's got something to show you guys! He wants us all at the factory," Odd heard her giggle a bit before continuing. "It's a holly jolly time with what he's got here,"

"Emily, stop!" He heard Jeremy groan distantly in the background.

"Killjoy. Anyways, get your asses over here, and get Aelita too,"

"Gotcha," Odd nodded at the instruction. He put his phone back into his pocket and looked over at Ulrich.

"Emily says Jeremy's called a meeting at the factory. You coming?"

"No, I'd rather be by myself," Ulrich replied.

"Come on! If you don't come he'll get mad," Odd pointed out.

"Leave me alone," Ulrich scowled. Odd gave an uncaring shrug.

"Ok, suit yourself. Both of you can stay here,"

"Both of us?" Ulrich asked.

"You and your bad mood." Odd waited only until Kiwi had trotted after him to slam shut the door. Ulrich's rigid expression returned as soon as Odd left. He folded his arms across his chest and leaned back. He wouldn't be leaving any time soon.

 **Factory**

I looked over as the elevator doors opened. I saw Aelita and Odd, as well as Kiwi, but no Ulrich or Yumi. Jeremy looked over at them as they approached.

"Ah, there you are. But... where's Ulrich?" he asked.

"He's sulking; I don't know what his problem is," Odd answered with a slight shrug.

"Who knows with him anymore. He sulks more than I did when I was still at home," I said disinterestedly.

Aelita looked curiously at the screen. "What's this program?"

"It's marabounta, my own creation," Jeremy reported proudly.

"And what does it do exactly?" Odd asked.

"It's a Christmas parade that spreads cheer and goodwill to all the inhabitants of Lyoko," I joked, flashing Odd a grin. Jeremy stifled another groan and merely sighed through his nose.

"Wait, what?" Odd asked with a slight laugh.

"I'm confused. What's she talking about?" Aelita questioned. I almost felt bad for the genuienly lost look on her face. Jeremy focused on her and shook his head.

"Ignore her, she's being stupid again." he told her. She gave a confused nod and looked back to the screen. "It's a multiagent system that follows the same principles as an anthill. But instead of ants, we have these little spheres whose mission is to search and destroy XANA's monsters,"

"Ok, I get it. While the monsters are getting wiped out by your ants, XANA leaves us alone on Lyoko, is that it?" Odd deduced.

"You guessed it," Jeremy confirmed.

"Hey, that's great. But..." he looked at me. "What's this about Christmas?"

"It's flashing red and green, see?" I pointed at the map. Odd let out an 'oh' of understanding, then matched my grin.

"I guess December came early, ha ha!" Odd laughed.

"And now there's two of them... lovely," Jeremy moaned. He rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"But... what if there's a real bug in the program?" Aelita asked suddenly, seeming to heed Jeremy's advice of ignoring our antics.

"Impossible. Remember: Franz Hopper was a genius," Jeremy said confidently.

"How's about we go check it out for ourselves?" I suggested. "If it does work, then we should be fine,"

"You read my mind, Emily. Head for the scanner room, I'll transfer you," Jeremy said. Odd and I made our way towards the ladder, but Aelita was hesitant. Looking back revealed that she had closed her eyes, deep in thought.

Jeremy looked over at her when she didn't move and read her expression. "If there's the slightest problem, I'll pull the plug," he assured her softly. She looked unconvinced, but ultimately let out a sigh and joined Odd and myself. We each climbed into the scanners.

"Ok, we're ready to go, Jeremy!" I said cheerfully.

"Transfer, Aelita. Transfer, Odd. Transfer, Emily. Scanner, Aelita. Scanner, Odd. Scanner, Emily. VIRTUALIZATION!"

 **Forest Sector**

We landed without problems. We stood up and looked around. Lyoko looked as normal as ever.

"You guys are south of the marabounta. Take the path to your right," Jeremy instructed. "Sorry, but you'll have to go without vehicles. I don't have enough machine resources to bring them up. And watch out for the bad guys. XANA may have his hands full, but you never know,"

"Roger, general," Odd replied.

"C'mon, Odd. Let's go to the Christmas party," I joked.

"Would you stop with that already!?" Jeremy snapped as we took off. "Wait, a Krab a two o'clock! Follow it, it's heading in the right direction!" Indeed, there was a Krab going along a path in front of us at top speed. It either hadn't seen us or was completely ignoring us, as it passed us by and continued on. I shrugged and ran after it, the others joining me moments later.

We ran for several minutes, following the Krab through all the twists and turns. Eventually though, we found the light at the end of the tunnel in the form of one of the larger plateaus. Several of XANA's monsters had congregated there and were firing of their lasers at... something.

"Target dead ahead," Jeremy said.

"Jeremy, I've got it! I can see the marabounta!" Odd reported. We stopped in front of the plateau in awe... and some horror.

The entire area was covered in this thick, black, inky substance that had a goo like quality to it. All the monsters, which included ones as small as Hornets or as big as Megatanks, were trying desperately to make a dent in the substance. But every time they hit it, the marabounta just seemed to heal itself and continue trekking on. The Krab we had followed had tried to join the fight, but the marabounta quickly overwhelmed it. The Krab was covered in the spheres almost immediately. It sank into the ground as soon as its shell was covered totally.

"Well? What's it like?" I heard Jeremy ask from above. I looked back at the other, who had similarly fearful expressions.

"Pretty... scary," Odd managed to answer.

"I take back everything I said about Christmas. This is worse than Halloween!" I added. I grimaced as we watched a Tarantulas get devoured by the marabounta. It was a gnarly sight to watch, even if it was on XANA's monsters.

"I never thought I'd ever say it," Odd started as a Megatank went down. "but I really feel sorry for XANA,"

"I'll uplink you a visual, Jeremy," Aelita said. The blond gasped seconds later.

"It's working even better than I thought it would," he noted.

"If you want my opinion, Einstein, you've invented yourself a pretty nasty piece of work," Odd said. I nodded with a noise of agreement.

"No kidding. I'm gonna have nightmare about this thing for weeks," I commented. Jeremy let out a happy hum above us. I heard another Tarantula cry out near us as it was swallowed up. Aelita frowned.

"Jeremy, I've... I've seen enough. I want to come in," she requested.

"Yeah, ok, Aelita, I'll bring you back. Head southwest, there's a tower nearby," Jeremy directed.

"Gotcha," Odd and I chorused. I looked towards Aelita, who nodded at me. I turned to take off. Odd and I'd barely made a few steps when Aelita called back to us.

"Odd! Emily! Look!" Aelita gasped fearfully. I quickly whirled around to find that the marabounta had set its sights on our pink haired friend. It had started to surround her, cutting off any safe places to escape, before it began to close in. Odd and I readied our weapons instantly.

"Odd, Aelita, Emily, what's going on? Answer me!" Jeremy yelled. Odd fired a few arrows to open a path for Aelita. I offered my hand to her and pulled her behind me. I held my staff up as we started to back away. As soon as Odd stopped firing, we ran for it. I looked back behind us and yelped.

"Oh, god! It's following us, Odd!" I exclaimed in a panic.

"Laser Arrow!" Odd shouted, and fired some more blasts behind us. It did little to stop the tidal wave of spheres following us though.

"Someone say something!" Jeremy ordered.

"If this is revenge for the holiday jokes, then I'm sorry!" I shouted back.

"What are you talking about?!"

"You're marabounta seems to have it in for us!" Odd explained. He glanced back again and grimaced.

"This is no time for jokes! I programmed it to attack XANA's monsters only!" Jeremy shot back.

"Then maybe program it some glasses as well? I'd lend it mine if I wasn't going to get destroyed by the damn thing!" I retorted with a sharp glare towards the sky.

"This can't be right... Did you do something special?" Jeremy questioned.

"No, except for fire a few laser arrows!" Odd replied.

"That wasn't the smartest thing to do,"

"Jeremy, Odd didn't have a choice! The marabounta was coming after me!" Aelita finally explained.

"What?! But how can that be!?" Jeremy cried in alarm. "Unless... oh, Jeremy idiot! It's my fault! It's the virus implanted into Aelita. The marabounta thinks she's one of XANA's monsters!" he explained dismally. He let out a groan muttered something about how stupid it was to miss that fact. His typing picked up in speed.

"Well, that's just faaaaantastic," I groaned. "There went the whole 'we have nothing to worry about' thing,"

"Thanks a lot, Frankenstein!" Odd jeered. We continued pushing forward, but the marabounta was still hot on our tails.

"I was wrong. OK, head for the tower, and I'll kill the program," Jeremy said. About a minute passed with us still running for our lives.

"Whenever you're ready, Jeremy!" Odd called. The genius in question let out a low growl of frustration.

"I can't deactivate the program! It seems that the marabounta doesn't want to die!" Jeremy yelled frantically.

"Seriously?! You've made them WAY too similar to real ants, Jeremy!" I shouted.

"Ugh... I know. The marabounta has become autonomous! It'll submerge everything and everyone in it's path!" Jeremy warned us. "I'll brief Yumi and Ulrich,"

We neared a fork in the road. I looked behind us and grimaced. "Jeremy said southwest, right?"

"Yes,"

"Then you and Odd head that way. I'll try to keep the marabounta off of you as a diversion. I'll meet back up with you if I can!" I ordered.

"Wait, what!? Emily, you're nuts!" Odd exclaimed. I ignored their cries of protest and pulled out my staff, charging it with energy.

"There's no time. Getting Aelita out of here is top priority. I can be devirtualized and it won't matter. Now go before it takes a liking to Aelita again!" I fired off a Magic Blast at the approaching wave. It immediately took interest, sending a huge wave my way. I took off running again. I could see Odd and Aelita looking at me from a distance on their path with concern, but I gave them a wave to keep moving.

The fear of devirtualization brought me back to my situation when I noticed how much closer it was getting to me. It was gaining on me, and fast. I pushed myself to go even faster, but that only did so much. I glanced back behind me, the grip on my staff tight and an idea in mind.

"Please let this work. Freeze, damnit!" A blast of cool air shot out from my staff and fell onto the marabounta. A thin layer of frost covered the wave, which is struggled to push against. It wasn't much, but I'd at least bought myself some wiggle room for speed. I let myself slow down to investigate a bit, as well as regain my breath. Another split path appeared before me.

I took a turn to the left. I'd learned Lyoko's basic layout decently enough to know that the forest sector tended to connect together a lot. "Ok... where are they..." I could see the tower in the distance... but also more marabounta. The entire path to the tower was completely cut off, leaving us with no way to get Aelita there "No!"

"Emily! XANA's sending you some company. A Tarantula!" Jeremy suddenly warned me as I neared an open area near the tower. I could see Odd and Aelita running from some spheres themselves in the distance. A shattering sound emanated from behind me, and I knew the marabounta had shaken off my frost. It was coming at me full speed again.

I heard the cry of the Tarantula next to me. "You are the LAST thing I want to deal with right now!" I warned it. But it had little interest in me it seemed, only the marabounta. It let out a cry as it began rapid firing behind me. I stared for only a moment, but then shook my head. If it wanted to help me, who was I to question it?

I ran forward towards where Odd was, but I was stuck. The marabounta had the area in front of me covered, making getting over there impossible. I heard the Tarantula cry out again and looked back. It bucked its head up, like it were telling me something.

I tilted my head. "Up...? Do you want me to... jump?" I guessed. It let out another cry, which I took as I yes. I saw it begin to charge up its lasers and put two and two together. I jumped into the air and pulled my cape over my body. "Cloak Guard! Ack!" I exclaimed as the lasers hit. I went flying backwards. The Tarantula was then caught off guard by the fast approaching marabounta, and let out one last warbled cry as it was killed. I gulped when I looked down. I was flying directly OVER the marabounta. But luckily for me, I was hit with a strong blast. I landed in a small clearing where Odd was standing. I let out an 'oof!' as I fell against the tree.

"Nice of you to drop on in," Odd noted. He fire another arrow at the marabounta as he glanced down at me.

I was about to make a usual witty comment in response, but I was cut off by a certain elf landing on top of me instead. I fell back onto my back again and let out a wheeze from the force of her fall. Aelita quickly stood up with an apologetic look. She offered a hand to help me up which I gladly took. As I dusted myself off, Odd looked back at where Aelita had flown in from in awe.

"That's crazy! That Krab just sacrificed itself for you!" Odd exclaimed. I looked back to see the form of what was once a Krab disintegrating into the marabounta.

"And I'm only over here now thanks to a Tarantula," I added, looking back at where it had been. I put my hand to my chin in thought.

Odd made a face. "I don't get it,"

"That's weird," Jeremy agreed.

"Uh, guys?" I called and pointed to where I was looking. Some Bloks and Kankrelats were approaching, but not firing.

"Wait, I think I get it! XANA knows he can't let Aelita die, he needs her memory!" Jeremy said. The six monsters surrounded us, but not in an offensive way. They all had their lasers aimed towards the approaching marabounta. I quirked an eyebrow at the sight, but raised my staff towards them defensively regardless.

"What are they doing...?" I wondered. They paid us no mind, choosing instead to fire at the marabounta.

Aelita's eyes widened. "They're... protecting me..." she said in sudden awed realization. I took another look at the formation around us and had to stop myself from gasping.

"That's why the Tarantula helped me... to get me over here to protect you," I realized.

"Exactly! Use the monsters as allies to defeat the marabounta!" Jeremy ordered. Odd and I shared a nod before be both jumped forward, landing in between the three Bloks.

"Laser Arrows!" Odd let about three arrows loose in sync with some of the Kankrelats fire.

I pointed my staff forward. "Magic Blast!" The marabounta took some damage with it, but it was fast on the recovery and healed itself up. I let out a growl of frustration and looked at my staff. The Magic Blast wouldn't do much, but ice had been effective. And with some Bloks in tow...

"Odd, I've got an idea in mind to slow this stuff down, but I'm gonna need some time," I said.

"Oh? Another one of your daring acts of magic, I presume?" He said in a light voice. I nodded.

"It's what I do best, isn't it?" He grinned. I looked back at the Bloks. "I'm gonna need your help too. Fire some ice off when I give the signal." If the Bloks made any motion of understanding, I didn't catch it. I was too distracted by a Krab suddenly materializing behind Aelita.

She looked up at it as it landed above her. It joined the battle almost immediately, and fired with the Bloks in unison.

"Hang on guys, the calvary's on its way!" Jeremy reported in from above. I let out a grunt of acknowledgement. My grip tightened on my staff as I focused on charging it with energy. I barely registered the sound of someone landing next to me.

What did catch my eye, however, was when a fan sliced through one of the Bloks. Irritation flashed across my face as I turned to see Yumi. Not that I could blame her for instinct, but it was still annoying to lose one of the monsters.

Aelita was faster to speak than I was. "No, Yumi, not them. The marabounta's the one to go after," she said, pointing at the black substance.

"What IS that horrible thing?" Yumi asked with a cringe.

"One of Jeremy's bright ideas. Luckily, XANA's here to give us a hand," Odd answered cheekily.

"The world has turned upside down," Yumi noted, mostly to herself, but then shook her head. She ran forward and threw her fan. It cut into the marabounta with ease, and came back to the Japanese girl with no harm done to it.

"Alright, I'm ready. Bloks, do it now!" I exclaimed in a strained voice. The two remaining Bloks immediately spun around and shifted to their gel guns. Two streams of ice began to pelt the spheres. The approaching wave began to slow down, but not by very much. That was when I let another blast of cold fly from my staff. There was much more than I'd released before, meaning a much bigger cloud of cold with the ability to cover more area. Odd and Yumi both watched at the visible cloud flew by them. As soon as it covered a large area of the marabounta, I made a downward movement with my staff, which then sent the cloud onto the marabounta and covered more of it in frost. Some parts even iced over completely. It's movement towards us was slowed immensely.

"Whoa..." I heard Odd and Yumi breath out. Any celebration I could've had at pulling my idea off was thrown out when I instead found myself collapsing.

A hand around my torso and on my shoulder stopped me from falling completely. I looked back to see Aelita giving me a concerned expression.

"I'm fine," I assured her. "Just... I always forget how much I have to put into those." I let out a heavy and tired sigh.

"That ice isn't going to hold forever," Aelita noted, then looked back to me. I nodded.

"I know, but it's bought us some more time," I said. We both looked forward at the fight wordlessly.

We needed to find a solution, and fast.

 **Ulrich and Odd's Dorm**

A loud knock rang out. Ulrich didn't move, but internally groaned. He just wanted to be left alone, what was so hard to understand about that?

"Yeah?" he asked dully. The door opened, revealing the knocker to be William. The absolute last person he wanted to deal with.

"Hi, I came to see how you were," he greeted. The brunette sat up from his bed and gave him a harsh glare.

"Yeah, right. When you have a good chance to humiliate the competition, might as well go for it," Ulrich scoffed.

William gave an unsure look. "Uh, I miss something here? What's your problem?"

"You're my problem," Ulrich responded accusingly. Why wouldn't he just go away, Ulrich wondered.

"Uh-uh, no. That'd be too easy, Ulrich. Let me tell you what's 'wrong' around here," William started. He walked closer to Ulrich, much to the brunette's irritation. "My being around Yumi forces you to ask yourself a question, a tough question that you can't answer. Here's a piece of friendly advice: go and talk to Yumi. From the heart. Or else one day, I will. And then I really will be your problem," William gave him one last look before shutting the door behind him.

Ulrich let out a small huff. Taking advice from the enemy wasn't something he made a habit of, nor wasn't something he planned on making a habit. But maybe just this once...

He looked towards his phone.

Maybe it was time for Jeremy to get the backup he seemed to need, based on the frantic texts he had.

 **Lyoko**

Several minutes went by. My ice helped matters quite a bit, but some of the thinner portions were starting to defrost. I was watching from the back with Aelita, having almost completely recovered. Not that my Magic Blasts helped much, but they'd be something once I could join again without collapsing.

"How're you doing, Jeremy?" Aelita asked, looking towards the sky.

"I'll never make it. I'm really the biggest loser to walk on the face of the other," Jeremy reported in dejectedly. He sounded so... defeated. A clack from his keyboard could be heard, but not the usual typing kind. More like the he had slumped over on them kind. Aelita and I shared a worried glance.

"You couldn't have known that my virus would be problem," Aelita said in his defense.

"Your virus... Virus!" Jeremy suddenly said, much more upbeat. "What if..." He suddenly disappeared into a series of babbling that I couldn't follow, but it sounded like he'd found his second wind.

And just in time too: another section of the ice shattered, which meant the marabounta was moving quickly again in some spots.

"I think that's my cue to join back up," I said. Aelita gave me a nod before I turned and jumped back into the fray. "Magic Blast!" I cried as I jumped. A large ball made a decent dent, but it was almost immediately patched up again. Odd and some Kankrelats were forced to back up some when the marabounta covered some more of our rapidly shrinking area.

"Whatever you do, don't let it make any headway, it'll attack from the rear," Odd instructed the monsters. Yumi caught one of her fans and back up next to him, an impressed look on her face.

"You're a really good combat general, Odd," she complimented.

"It takes strategy, y'know. The only thing stupider than a Blok is two Bloks!" he joked in response. Yumi smirked, then let another fan cut into the marabounta. I fired off another spell as well. The two of us hardly made a dent, and what little we did sealed up again.

"Jeremy, move it! Things are getting a bit out of hand," Yumi said, a snappy tone.

"Hey, I'm doing my best, guys!" Was Jeremy's curt response. But only seconds passed before we got the news we wanted to hear. "I think I've found a way to destroy the marabounta! Odd, I've inserted a code for a deadly virus into one of your arrows! If you hit a sphere with it, the whole colony will be infected! But-"

"No sweat!" Odd took aim.

"Wait! It'll only work if you hit the first sphere, the one I transferred to Lyoko that created all the others!" Jeremy stopped him. Odd lowered his arm as he listened. "It's at the heart of the marabounta,"

Odd shook his head in disbelief. "Great. So, how am I supposed to reach the heart of the marabounta? On a camels back!?"

A growl sounded from behind us. We looked back to see the Krab looking down at Odd.

"Well, maybe not a camel, but a giant crustacean should do," I remarked.

"It's the only way," Jeremy agreed.

Odd shook his head again with a sigh. "The things I do for you people," he muttered. He grabbed onto one of the Krabs claws and launched himself up in an impressive flip. He landed on the Krabs shell and took a stance similar to the one he uses on the Overboard.

"Jeremy, which way is Odd going?" I asked. I glanced down at my staff, tightening my grip on it again.

"Northeast. Why?"

"Cause I want to freeze part of the path there to keep Mr. Krabs here from getting covered in muck too quickly," I answered honestly. I inspected the top of my staff in discomfort when I felt the gazes of the others digging into me.

"What? But won't that melt the rest of the ice here?" Yumi pointed out.

"Most of it, yes. But if this works, then we shouldn't need it anymore anyway," I figured. "Besides, it's bound to break any minute now,"

"Are you sure about this? The first spell already wore you down, this may take you out entirely" Aelita reminded me. I shook my head.

"I'm fine, and I will be fine. I'm not freezing it all, just what I can see. We don't have time to argue anyway," I gave a dismissive wave. "I'm doing this, so back up. Freeze!" I exclaimed, and thrust my staff toward the path. A stream of ice, not unlike the Bloks, shot out from the top of it. Ice rapidly began collecting on the covered path. About a quarter of the path was covered when the fatigue started to catch up to me. I grit my teeth and squeezed my eyes shut, trying my best not to let the stream waver in intensity. I could feel my arm start to shake from the stress.

I let out a yell when I felt one of my knees buckle underneath me. I finally lowered my arm a moment later when it went numb. "It's done... go!" I said. My breathing was heavy and strained.

"Charge!" Odd ordered the Krab. It took off at the order without hesitation.

I looked towards Aelita again. "Help me up, I'm not out yet," I requested. With one of my arms slung around her shoulders, I was able to stand. I transferred my staff to my right hand and pointed it forward. "Magic Blast!"

"Emily!" Aelita shouted. I looked down and, to my alarm. the marabounta was coming at us. I pushed Aelita away from me as best I could do, but it left me open. The icky goo covered my foot entirely. I watched in horror as it spread up my legs, covering them, then went up my torso. As it encased my torso, breathing became more difficult to breath. I lifted my head in some vain attempt to avoid it, but I think we all know how that turned out.

Shortly after my vision was covered, I felt myself devirtualize.

 **Scanner Room**

I fell out of the scanner with a very loud thud. I reached up and readjusted my glasses with a frown.

" _Well, death by goo. I guess there are worse ways to go,_ " I joked mentally. I pulled myself up and walked into the elevator and hit the button to join Jeremy.

I heard him talking as the door opened. "You're almost there, Odd. I'll give you the exact location of the first sphere,"

"It's ok, I think I found it," I heard Odd assure him as I approached. I gripped onto the back of Jeremy's chair.

"You've only got one shot, make it count," I advised. The seconds that followed felt like an eternity. I was startled when an error message for the marabounta popped up on screen. The window closed themselves almost instantly, and all traces of the marabounta was completely gone. Jeremy and I both let out a huge breath of relief.

Finally, the happy ending we'd wanted.

"Look," I heard Aelita say. The map revealed that Yumi, Aelita, and Ulrich were standing in front of four monsters.

"Don't buy it, Aelita," Ulrich said. Whatever they were doing, it was the last time they'd do it. Our truce with XANA was over now.

"Ulrich's right. The marabounta's gone, but XANA and his monsters are still our worst enemy. He wants your memory at all costs," Jeremy said, adjusting his earpiece slightly. The monsters then seemed to retreat. Another green marker, Odd, then joined the others.

For the first time in what felt like forever that day, I smiled. "I think it's time for us all to go home, don't you think?" Jeremy gave me a similar look and nodded.

 **Kadic**

Yumi was the last to exit the manhole. Odd gave our resident einstein a somewhat sharp look as he approached.

"Next time you wanna play being a mad scientist, clue us in a little more first, ok?" he said simply.

"Well I really tried to, but all of you except Emily had better things to do," Jeremy defended weakly.

"And I'll be honest, I really didn't want to go either," I chimed in with my hand raised. Jeremy gave me a look for that.

"But in any case, you're right, Odd, cause this time I was big zero from start to finish."

"You found a way out of it Jeremy, that's what counts," Aelita told him kindly. They both smiled at one another. Ordinarily, I would've teased them about how cute they acted together, but...

"Well, as lovely as today's been, I'm exhausted. I'm ready to head back if you all are," I said, trying to stifle a yawn.

"Well it's no wonder why you're tired. What exactly were you thinking, Miss Magic? I thought you couldn't do more than one big spell?" Yumi chided me. She poked me in ribs a few times as well.

"It was an emergency," I said. I made a face every time she poked me. "And I CAN do more than one, but it takes too much time and it wears me out, as you saw. And besides, what kind of hero would I be if I didn't have an at least slight flair for the dramatics?" I joked. I stretched my arms above me as I spoke and offered her a grin. She shook her head at me, though wore a smile.

"You're really quite a character," was all she said, which I decided to take as a compliment. We walked back onto campus and started to make our way to the dorm building. Sissi looked up from whatever magazine she was reading and smirked evilly.

"Well if it isn't the whole crew," she remarked in her usual annoying voice.

"Well if it isn't the brainless frog-face," Odd shot back. I snickered more than I probably should have. I blame it on my tiredness.

Sissi rolled her eyes. "Ha ha ha, you crack me up," she said sarcastically. She shifted her gaze over to Ulrich. "By the way, Ulrich, are you feeling better after what happened at the pool?"

Ulrich scowled. "Cool it, Sissi," he warned, then walked into the dorm building without another word. Odd, Jeremy, and I all shared a look that asked the same question.

"So what happened at the pool, Ulrich? Come on, out with it," Odd was the one to ask.

"Nothing!" Yumi and Ulrich answered in unison. Odd made a hilariously baffled expression, which I again laughed it harder than I should've.

"What!?"

Ulrich and Yumi then turned back to each other, small smiles on their faces. Ulrich cleared his throat and said, "Yumi...I...could we talk sometime?"

"Well...yes. Whenever you like..." Yumi replied quietly. The two of them began their ascent up the stairs, and Aelita followed. I grabbed onto the railing and went up a few stairs.

"You wanna hear the unencrypted version of that scene?" Odd asked Jeremy in a whisper.

"Do you have a decoder?" Jeremy asked. I turned to look at the two. Odd had his usual mischievous look.

Odd struck a dramatic pose. "Oh...Ulrich! You're jealous of William, but it's because you love me, I just know it!" He said in a bad falsetto that sounded nothing like Yumi.

Odd's infectious grin struck Jeremy as well. He grabbed Odd's hands and stared into his eyes. "It's true, Yumi. I love you!"

"Me too, Ulrich, I've always loved you!" I snickered loudly, almost bordering on full blown laughter.

It was then that the others all turned around, with Ulrich looking particularly annoyed. "Hey! What the heck are you two doing?" He asked with a piercing gaze.

The two of them immediately let go of each other's hands and took on more 'normal' looks again.

"Nothing!" They both said far too quickly. Aelita and Yumi shared a confused look, then looked at me. Seeing me still somewhat laughing, they just shrugged and continued up the stairs again.

Jeremy looked at Odd again. "Do you think they'll ever confess?"

"Sure... Once they make up their minds. In about twenty years!" Odd answered with an eyeroll.

Jeremy let out a sigh. He, Odd, and I then started the climb up the stairs. And yes, as soon as Aelita and I got to our room, I took a very well deserved nap.

* * *

 **Fun fact: That added last scene? I actually didn't come up with that myself. It was a scene from the initial script that just didn't make it in.**

 **...I feel like I didn't do as good on this one, and I'm not sure why. Then again, I always feel like that after not posting for a little bit. And I'm not sure if that's just the usual teenaged self doubt talking or if me being up at 3 AM to finish this is getting to me.**

 **...Yep, totally a normal sleep schedule.**


	12. Common Interest

**Ahem... this uh, took more time than expected.**

 **Sorry about that. Went through some bad writers block for awhile. That, and I'm contending with a hurt wrist.**

 **No, I don't know how it happened, but I am currently wearing a brace to try and allviate some pain.**

* * *

Chapter 12: Common Interest

I let out a groan as I opened my eyes. The mornings were as pleasant as always. I shifted my position slightly to look towards my nightstand. I pulled a pillow over my head as the beeping from our alarm clock continued.

"Aelita, can you please turn that thing off? I'm up now, I pro-" I stopped when I looked over at her bed. She had hardly moved since the alarm had started. I quickly got up and walked over to her with a concerned look. "Aelita?" I shook her shoulder slightly. She let of a muffled noise and turned toward me.

She was up, but it was obvious that she didn't want to be. She rubbed one of her eyes before blinking at me in surprise. She looked over at the still ringing alarm clock, and although it took her a moment, seemed to piece together what was going on. She reached over wordlessly and turned off the clock.

"You ok there?" I asked. She leaned back and closed her eyes with a nod.

"Yeah," she looked back at me again and tried to give me a reassuring smiled. I couldn't help but notice how tired she was.

"Bad night?"

"Something like that," she replied, not quite looking at me. I frowned at that, but decided to stay quiet.

We went into the bathroom after that. I was in the middle of brushing my teeth when I heard Milly and Tamiya talking next to me.

"Did you hear about Peter Duncan?" Tamiya asked her after rinsing her mouth out.

"That he escaped? Of course I did," Milly answered. I nearly choked upon hearing that.

"Whu wath thuk?!" I sputtered. The two girls looked back at me, obviously startled, but then confused.

"Uh, once more without you eating your toothbrush?" Tamiya said. I spat out the last remnants of my toothpaste before trying again.

"Peter Duncan, what was that about him?" I asked again in between coughs.

"Oh, that? Yeah, they announced that he escaped on the radio this morning. Don't you listen to them?" Milly asked. I looked back at Aelita when she started snickering. She tried to hide it behind her hand, but it was a poor attempt. I made a face at her before looking back at Milly and Tamiya.

"Uh, well... we kinda missed it today," I settled on saying. I hid my now red face in the towel I was using to wipe my mouth off. "Ahem, did they mention how he got out?"

"No," Tamiya shook her head. "That's the thing: he did it without any outside help, and even took down the police officers in the van!"

"By himself!?" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, that's what I'd heard," Someone else, Heidi, chimed in. "Some people think it was supernatural." I frowned.

"It's a real mystery, that's for sure," Tamiya said with a shrug. "Anyways, Milly and I have gotta get going. See you later, Emily and Aelita!" They both waved to us as they walked out. I nodded absentmindedly to them.

"Supernatural force..." I muttered, rapping my fingers against the sink. I jumped when Aelita tapped my shoulder.

"Uh, so who exactly is this Peter Duncan?" She asked.

"He's a major criminal that's been popping up around the country for the past few months. Started a little before you arrived," I explained.

"What has he done exactly?"

"That list is longer than the amount of fingers I have. Basically the only thing I can think of that he hasn't done is murder, and even that's been debated after some of his crimes. But my problem isn't what he's done. It's that he escaped," I looked around before continuing in a low whisper. "And if he escaped by a supposed 'supernatural' way, well..."

She gave a nod in understanding. "We'll check with Jeremy before class," she decided. I gave a thumbs up before pulling back from her and continuing in as normal.

 **Jeremy's Dorm**

"It's open!" Jeremy called when I knocked. I opened the door to find Jeremy not at his computer surprisingly, but pulling one of his shoes on. "Oh, hi,"

"Hey, Jeremy. Hate to ask but uh, has the superscan gone off at all?" I asked.

He immediately went over to his computer. "You do realize I would've told you had it gone off, right?" He asked as he opened the program.

"Yeah, I know. But some gossip about France's favorite public enemy worried me a little," I shrugged. He let out a hum, but didn't question it. The scan ran through for about five seconds before coming negative for any activated towers. "You can hardly fault me for being cautious," I defended myself when Jeremy looked back at me.

"That much is true, but XANA's quiet for the moment," Jeremy said as he closed the scan. He pulled on his other shoe and reached for his bag at his side. After double checking that his laptop was with him, he nodded to us. We made our way to the stairs. "So how are you this morning, ladies?"

"I'm alright, I guess," I answered first with a slight shrug.

"Aelita?" Jeremy called after she remained silent. "You alright?"

"Yes. Just... not a great night," she finally answered.

"More nightmares?"

She shook her head. "No, I just couldn't sleep for some reason." She placed her hand just slightly above where her heart was, as if she was checking to see it was still there. She paused for a moment, likely feeling it beat under her hand, then looked at us again. "But I'll be alright." She gave him the most reassuring smile she could muster. Jeremy's frown remained unchanged, but he said nothing and looked forward.

Upon exiting the dorm building, we found Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi standing around the vending machine. Their voices became clearer as we approached.

"...Y'know, ever since David Copperfield made the statue of liberty disappear, nothing surprises me anymore," Odd laughed to himself. Creases of worry appeared on Yumi's forehead as she grabbed her drink and looked at Ulrich and Odd again.

"What bothers me is that the two police officers who were guarding him talked about a supernatural force," she noted. I smirked at the very familiar topic of conversation.

Ulrich caught her drift. "You think XANA is involved?" he asked.

"Not a chance, the superscan doesn't show any activated tower, I just checked," Jeremy answered, effectively announcing our presence to the others. I nodded in confirmation.

"I hope you're right. Imagine, public enemy number one under XANA's control, talk about double trouble," Yumi said skeptically.

"Bleh," I shuddered. "We have enough trouble with everyone else as it is when they're XANAfied,"

"What exactly has this Duncan guy done to make him a public enemy?" Odd asked with a curious look.

"Oh, nothing much. Fine art theft, safe cracking, kidnapping, bank robbery..." Jeremy listed off on his fingers. I imagine he would've continued had Aelita not grabbed her head with a groan and dropped her bag.

We all looked at her worriedly. "You ok, Aelita?" Yumi asked.

She smiled back sheepishly at us. "Yes, I just didn't sleep very well last night," she answered. As she reached down to grab the bag again, the bell rang.

"Don't forget: we have a math test. You gonna be alright?" Jeremy asked. Aelita hesitated for a moment.

"No problem," she finally answered.

"If you say so..." I muttered.

 **Math Class**

I grimaced as Ms. Meyer grabbed hold of the stack of tests and began to pass them out to us. No matter how much I studied, I still felt woefully underprepared.

"As you all know, the exam covers the principles of division. I hope you've all studied hard," Ms. Meyer announced as she passed two exams to my table. I was the odd one out this time, in that I had no other Lyoko Warrior to sit next to. I was seated at the table next to Jeremy and Aelita's at the front.

"Hey, Ulrich. What's the last digit of a number divisible by two?" I heard Odd whisper from behind.

"Zero," Ms. Meyer answered. A look back revealed both her annoyed look and Odd's sheepish one.

"Oh, yeah, that's the answer! Well done, ma'am," he offered nervously.

"No, that's the grade you're going to get if you keep trying to cheat," she clarified.

"Oh..."

I covered my mouth to keep myself from audibly snickering. Of course, all traces of enjoyment left me as soon as I remembered that I had a math exam to take. I inwardly groaned.

" _Well, here goes nothing,_ " I picked up my pencil and started working out some problems I hoped I remembered how to do.

Maybe five minutes went by when I saw Jeremy lean back comfortably out of the corner of my eye.

"Well, Jeremy, is there a problem?" Ms. Meyer asked as she approached.

"I finished, ma'am," she happily reported. Her eyebrows went up in surprise and she went to pick up the paper to confirm it. "I see. Good work. Excellent, in fact, Jeremy," she praised. Jeremy beamed at her. I struggled not to give him a good natured eyeroll when he glanced over at me.

Another few minutes went by in relative silence. I'd made some progress on a particularly nasty looking problem when I head what sounded like... whimpering?

I looked over in the direction it was coming from. Their source revealed to be Aelita, who had seemingly all but abandoned her test and was holding her head again. It was then that I noticed that she was looking rather pale.

Jeremy flashed me a worried glance before focusing in on her. "Aelita, are you ok?" he whispered.

"I..." she stuttered a bit. She made a weak attempt to stand up, using the desk to support herself, but she hardly made it beyond that. Almost immediately, she let out a gasp and fell to the floor, unconscious.

"Aelita!" Jeremy exclaimed. Ms. Meyer jumped up out of her seat, and Ulrich, Odd, and I looked down in horror. Jeremy reached down to check her pulse, but given he went almost as pale as she had been, I didn't even want to know. He looked back at us in stunned silence.

"Ms. Meyer, call the hospital right now!" Ulrich ordered sharply. Frantic whisperings broke throughout the room" _What happened?_ "

" _What happened?_ "

" _She just fell!"_

 _"What's going on!? What about the test?_ "

" _Is she gonna die?_ "

I covered my ears. " _She's going to be alright, Em. You know that, even if you don't remember how you get there, you know that. Just stay calm,_ " I tried to take deep breaths, though that failed miserably. Odd placed a hand on my shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. I gave him a small, somewhat forced smile.

The next few minutes were all a blur as paramedics rushed in. Jeremy was the first to follow after them as they left with Aelita in tow, completely disregarding Ms. Meyer's protests.

He stopped for a moment, still holding the door as he looked back at Ulrich, Odd, and me. "Meet me there." was all he said before darting off.

"Jeremy, wait!" Ms. Meyer called. She looked out at all of us, shook her head, then took off after him.

The class erupted with sound not even a moment after she left. I immediately moved to cover my ears again. The buzz of sound was not helping me think clearly whatsoever.

I suddenly found myself being guided out of the classroom by a pair of friendly hands. Ulrich and Odd closed the door behind us, muffling the chaos.

"You good?" Odd asked after a few moments of silence. I slowly lowered my hands and nodded weakly.

"Yeah. I'm just... yeah," I answered lamely.

"We get it," Ulrich said. "But the question is, what do we do now?"

I let out a deep sigh, feeling my heart finally stop racing. "Well, first, we need to find Yumi. Then, we just follow Jeremy's instructions,"

"His instructions?"

"Yeah. We meet him there,"

 **Hospital**

"What took you guys so long?" Jeremy asked as we approached. He had been pacing, judging by the foot pattern in the rug.

"Delmas held us up," Ulrich explained. "Wasn't exactly too thrilled about the idea of five of his students running around town in a panic,"

"He finally let us go when we pointed out we'd either A: leave anyway, or B: not be productive in class anyway," I said. I slid into a seat. "How's it been going here?"

Jeremy practically fell into the seat next to mine with a look of exhaustion. "I have no idea. They haven't said anything since they took her back." He glanced at a nearby clock nervously.

"Well, no news can be good news, right?" Odd pointed out. He gave our resident Einstein an optimistic shoulder pat. "We'd have heard by now if the worst happened. Just try and think of it like that,"

"In any case," Ulrich started, whispering only just loud enough for us to hear. "Do you think XANA could've done it?"

"Done what?" I questioned.

"Made Aelita faint. He infected her with that virus, who's to say he couldn't manipulate her through it like this?" Ulrich threw out. We frowned at the implication.

"But if he could do that, why just make her faint?" Yumi reminded him. "Why not just take control of her directly again?"

"Because he needed a tower to do that. Through that stupid necklace. The virus had nothing to do with it," I pointed out. A lull in the conversation occurred as a few nurses on break took their time walking by us. I bounced my leg, wishing them to just hurry up and go. We turned to one another again as they finally walked out of earshot.

"That also wouldn't fit XANA's usual MO. Any time he attacks Aelita, it's always to get her onto Lyoko in some way so she can be delivered to the Scyphozoa. He wouldn't be able to do that like this," Jeremy finally said to break the silence. "But even so, I'd rather be safe than sorry." He moved to grab his bag.

That's when the doctor chose to appear around the corner. Jeremy looked straight up, abandoning his bag. "How is she?"

The doctor looked at the five us with a calm, reassuring smile. "She's fine, don't worry. She'll be alright, but it's an extraordinary case..." he noted, looking back over his shoulder towards wherever her room was.

"Can we see her?" Yumi requested. He stared at us for a moment before nodding.

"I don't see why not, but not too much noise. She needs to rest," he instructed us.

Odd flashed the doctor an innocent smile. "Don't worry, Doctor, everyone knows I'm quiet and calm," he assured the doctor as he walked away. We all gave him a 'really?' type look.

"Odd, you are the biggest liar," I told him as we stood up. He grinned at me.

"What they don't know won't hurt them," He joked. I shook my head and chuckled. It felt nice to be able to laugh again after the stress of the morning.

Jeremy pushed open the door to Aelita's room, 117. It was a little weird to see her lying there, next to all the equipment and in a hospital gown. But she looked a much better color than she had before, so that was good. She smiled broadly at us when she saw us enter.

"Hey, how are you doing, Princess?" Odd asked.

"Better now. At least, I think so," she replied. We all took a seat near her.

"The doctor said your heart stopped. And that's not exactly normal for anyone, let alone 12 year olds." I said. The air immediately turned much more serious.

"Could it be-"

"Checking right now," Jeremy had already pulled his laptop out before she could finish.

"How are your test results?" Yumi asked.

"Completely normal," Aelita said, frowning.

"Maybe it's got something to do with the fact that you're not really human," Ulrich suggested.

"It could be the virus that XANA implanted it me," Aelita said.

I shook my head. "I suppose, but why impact you like this with it? Doesn't seem very effective,"

"You find anything, Jeremy?" Yumi asked.

The whir of the superscan filled the air. "Dead calm as far as XANA's concerned; no actiavted towers. Although the superscan seems to have reset itself. It's not giving the right results," Jeremy noted with a frown.

"Kind of like me. I guess it didn't study either," Odd laughed.

I rolled my eyes. "I'd like to think Jeremy's programs are a touch better at math than you are, Odd," I teased.

Jeremy let out a hum before closing his laptop. "No class this afternoon. I'm going to pay a visit to the factory to check it out," he decided.

"We'll go with you," Ulrich said, slinging an arm around Odd. They looked at me and Yumi expectantly.

"Pass," I answered with a yawn.

"I'm gonna stay too. We can have a girl to girl talk for once," Yumi said, looking towards Aelita. She smiled at the prospect of that.

"Alright, we'll be back in a little bit," Jeremy said. He gave Aelita a shy smile. "See you later, Aelita." He offered her a small wave before shutting the door behind him.

I had to physically stop myself from grinning like a maniac at how cute they were together. " _Ah, puppy love._ " I snickered to myself quietly as I sat down across from Yumi. "So, what does this supposed 'girl to girl' talk entail, considering we don't really get a chance to do this all that often,"

"You act like there's set rules for it or something," Yumi said teasingly. Both she and Aelita started to giggle as I opened my mouth several times to try and rebuke her.

"W-well, it's not like I do this often! I don't exactly have any sisters, if I must remind you," I stuttered out. I folded my arms and looked away from them, sticking my lip out as if I were a small child. I struggled not to laugh as I heard Yumi snickering at the image.

"You never have a problem talking with me in the dorm," Aelita pointed out. Yumi raised a brow with a smirk.

I raised a finger to Aelita's lips, as well as one to my own. "Shhh! Don't listen to her, Yumi! She's still in a drug induced haze! Who knows what the doctors have given her!" I said dramatically. My eyes went wide enough that I felt like they'd fall and roll away at any second. I couldn't help but burst out into laughter only moments later at the eyerolls they both gave me.

Aelita swatted my hand away. "They haven't given me anything and you know that," she said plainly.

"Keep telling yourself that, dear," I leaned over to Yumi, placed a hand over the side of my mouth so Aelita couldn't see, and whispered, "That's what she wants you to think."

"Hey!"

I grinned back at her. She folded her arms and rolled her eyes, but still wore a smile. "You're impossible, you know that?"

"Does she do this everyday in the dorm?"

"No."

"Yes" We both answered at once. "Who're you going to believe? When have I ever lied to you, Yumi?"

For a split second, I swear I saw her flinch at my question. But with how quickl she seemed to recover from said flinching, I wondered if I had only imagined it. "Poorly, several times," she deadpanned, and pointed at Aelita in response to my first question.

I put a hand to my chest in mock horror. "Such treachery! How can I call myself friends with one who would so quickly abandon me?" I with a ridiculous dramatic inflection. I moved my other hand to my forehead as if I were feeling faint. I couldn't keep the pose up for long, as the others had burst out into an infectious laughter as soon as I'd started.

Yumi wiped what I presume to be a tear from her eye as the laughter died down. "You're too much. I don't know how your family deals with you if you're like this all the time," she remarked.

I shrugged. "You get used to it after 14 years I guess." I let out an absentminded chuckle as Yumi started talking with Aelita about some story involving a stupid thing William did. I suddenly felt hollow at the mention of my family, but not for the reasons you'd think.

I missed them, I could never say that I didn't. But, as I spent more and more time here, I found myself thinking about them less and less. The stories I'd tell the others had started drifting recently from old family stories, to random events that I'd noticed that had happened in class, or about stupid situations I'd gotten into while here and the commentaries I had on them, including with XANA attacks. When I met the others, it felt like everything had fallen into place, like a well placed Tetris piece.

It felt right here, somehow.

I pulled myself out of my thoughts when I felt Aelita's gaze piercing into me. "I'm still among the land of the living if that's wh- oh wait, bad choice of words..." I cringed at myself. "Timing, Emily, you have such poor timing," I muttered, lowering my head into my hands.

"I don't know, you're usually pretty _pun_ ctual with your jokes," Aelita said casually. My head snapped up. Both Yumi's and my own jaw dropped at that. My shock, however, was replaced very quickly as pride bubbled over my face. I clapped my hands together in front of the grin now seemingly stuck to my face.

"I'm so proud of you," I wiped a fake tear from my eye and sniffled a few times. "Ulrich's gonna kill me, and maybe Jeremy too, but I'm so proud," I heard Yumi let out a sigh. She shook her head, seeming to decide ignoring this was her best solution.

From there, we talked about whatever came to mind, from stupid stories, to me teasing them both about Ulrich and Jeremy, the two of them teaming up on me since I had no crush for them to pick on me for.

Good times.

"...The funniest part is, Hiroki says to my father, 'Papa, when I grow up, I'm going to look like you, but with muscles!'" Yumi finished her story. All three of us laughed once again.

Then, Aelita let out a gasp. Her whole body went limp, her eyes drooped close. And worst of all, the heart monitor next to her stopped letting out it's rhythmic beat; it was instead replaced by one lone, horrible sound that seemed to never end.

Yumi and I shared a horrified look as we realized what had happened: Aelita's heart had stopped again.

"Get a doctor, quickly!" she urged me. I bolted out of the room.

"Hey!" A few people shouted at me as I darted past them. I couldn't even spare the usual apologetic look I'd normally give to someone I bump into, I was too focused on running.

I stopped in the waiting lobby, severely out of breath. Placing my hand against the wall to support myself, I shouted out. "Please... my friend... her heart!" I sputtered.

The two doctors from before raced past me, seeming to have recognized me from earlier. By the time I caught back up, they were already attempting to revive Aelita while Yumi stood watch nervously behind them. Right as it seemed they were about to give up, the monitor started beeping again.

The older doctor looked on in awe. "In all my years as a doctor, this is the first time I've ever seen this," he gawked.

I felt my phone buzz in my pocket just as Aelita opened her eyes again. I looked towards Yumi, who nodded in acknowledgment, and walked out into the hallway.

"Hello?"

"Emily, we've got a gigantic problem," Jeremy breathed out. His voice crackled a bit over the phone's speaker. I did not like the sound of that.

"What kind of problem?"

"It'll be easier to explain with us all there. Is Aelita doing ok?" I looked back into the room. The doctors seemed to be asking Aelita some questions, but she looked fine from what I could tell, if maybe still a little dazed.

"She just had another attack, but she seems alright right now." I heard Jeremy click his tongue as the elevator whirred in the background.

"I was afraid of that..."

"Huh?"

"Listen, Ulrich and Odd just got back from Lyoko; they found an activated tower. We'll discuss more when we get there. Tell Yumi." He hung up after that. I stared at my phone, baffled. I sighed, then stuffed it back into my pocket. The doctors brushed past me as they made their exit, still wearing amazed expressions.

" _I really hope Jeremy knows what's going on, cause this is just bizarre,_ "

 **Later**

"The uranium in the nuclear battery is almost all used up, so the supercomputer keeps failing, and pretty soon it'll turn off all together," Jeremy said grimly. He'd dragged all of us, sans Aelita, into the hallway to talk. There weren't many people around, so it was safe to talk at a reasonable volume. Ulrich and Odd had already recounted their near death encounter on Lyoko due to the dying battery.

Inwardly, I chastised myself. " _The battery, of course!_ _Ho_ _w could you not remember that the battery starts dying?! This is a kind of big thing to forget!_ " That was always my problem: remember the big reveals, never the hows in which they were reached. And of course, I couldn't remember how we fixed this problem. If only it were that easy.

"Oh, is that all? Then we just have to change the battery," Odd said simply, as if it were as easy as that.

"The supercomputer isn't the same as a Gameboy, Odd. You can't exactly go and pick up a bar of uranium at the corner store," Jeremy reminded him.

"Uranium isn't an easy thing to come across. It's usually guarded by the military. The fact that it runs on uranium, while not surprising, is impressive in of itself," I thought aloud. "Of course, that poses the problem of how exactly we're supposed to fix this issue,"

"Isn't there a kind of emergency backup battery?" Ulrich proposed.

Jeremy shook his head. "No, I checked," he said. We all frowned as the news settled in.

"XANA is dying," Yumi said.

"And so is Aelita. And all on acount of that miserable virus!" Jeremy finished. We all groaned, miserable and lost on what to do next. Jeremy looked the most dejected of us all. "I'm gonna get something to drink," he muttered, then wandered off back towards the waiting area.

The rest of us stared at each other blankly. "Well..."

"I'll do it," Odd said quietly. "I'll be the one to tell her." And before anyone could protest, he stood up and opened the door to her room. Ulrich, Yumi, and I shared a look. Yumi bit the edge of one of her fingers and turned away from us and started to make her way down the hall, muttering something about 'checking on Jeremy,'.

I let out a sigh and stood up. Pushing open the door revealed that Aelita was laying on the bed miserably while Odd stood over her, attempting to smile.

"Hey, Princess. Was this the best TV set they could find?" He joked.

She looked back up at him tiredly. "Don't bother trying to cheer me up, I heard what you said in the hallway," she said bluntly. Odd's face fell. We all shared a look again.

"There's a way out of this. There has to be..." I murmured, tapping both my foot and fingers in a thoughtless rhythm. Aelita stared at the wall at the far end of the room. It hurt to see her like this, it really did.

The door squeaked open, revealing Yumi. "Jeremy's disappeared," she informed us with a frown.

"But he can't have left, just like that," Ulrich said.

I tugged tightly on my sleeves. "We never did find out what XANA's offensive game was this time, did we?" I asked.

Instead of a response, Aelita suddenly gasped again as she flatlined once more. "Aelita!" Yumi exclaimed, and rushed towards her bed.

Ulrich's phone rang at that moment. "Jeremy, where are you? Aelita's just had another attack!" Ulrich said. I turned towards him with an anxious expression. He turned the phone outward slightly so I could hear better.

"That figures. I just turned off the supercomputer," Jeremy said. Ulrich and I shared a look of horror.

"What!?"

"Peter Duncan is under XANA's control; he kidnapped me to make me replace the battery," Jeremy explained

"That means that Aelita is saved too then. Fantastic," Ulrich sighed in relief.

"Yeah, except once the new battery's in, Duncan's gonna try to kill me," Jeremy pointed out. "The only way for you to get rid of Duncan is for you to go to Lyoko and deactivate the tower. Get Aelita out of the hospital and come and get here ASAP!"

We all stared down at the pinkette. "Aelita's heart can't take an awful lot more of this," Ulrich said.

"I know, so hurry,"

 **Factory**

"Oh, so it WAS this way. Sorry," I sheepishly said as we ran. I may or may have not sent us down the wrong way for a few minutes...

You have no proof of it.

Both of the boys sent a glare my direction. "Why did we try and follow her directions again?" Odd asked in a whisper.

Ulrich, who was carrying Aelita, grunted. "Really, I'm not sure,"

"Hey!"

"It's not our fault you can't tell left and right apart," Odd shot back. "Or east and west for that matter,"

I opened my mouth to retort back, but Yumi cut me off by shouting. "Jeremy is alone with a XANAfied criminal, and you really wanna argue about your horrid sense of direction now?"

I snapped my jaw shut and sent a scowl at them. "We'll discuss this later,"

"There's nothing to discuss! You're the worst GPS ever, plain and simple," Odd exclaimed.

"Odd!" Yumi warned.

"Fine, fine!" We ran from the bridge into the factory, stopping right in front of the ropes and cables.

"Uh... not that I doubt your abilities, Ulrich, but how are we gonna pull this off exactly?" I asked. Luckily for us, we didn't have to ponder the idea for long, as Aelita's eyes fluttered open seconds later. She blinked at us all, likely trying to piece together what she could. I couldn't help but smile.

"W-what's going on?" she stuttered a bit as she spoke. Ulrich set her down on her feet gently, helping her steady herself with his body.

"Given the fact that you're awake, Jeremy must've just replaced the battery," I noted. Almost as suddenly as a record scratch, all of our happy and relieved expressions turned panicked.

"Which also means that Duncan's up and moving again!" Odd realized. Yumi and Odd both leapt at the ropes and swung down.

I gave Aelita an apologetic look. "Sorry to throw you immediately back into the fray. No rest for the weary, I suppose," I said. She took a moment to reorient herself before nodding at Ulrich and me.

"Where's Jeremy?" she asked as we swung down.

"In the lab already," Ulrich explained.

"And I can bet you he's gonna be glad to hear that you're doing ok," I smirked. I slammed by hand down on the button to send us to the scanner room. I shared a knowing look with Ulrich as the doors opened again. We both had the same thought in mind.

Odd looked back at us when he noticed we hadn't left the elevator. "What're you two doing?"

"We're gonna go play cops and robbers with XANA. Good luck out there!" The doors closed once more.

We could hear Jeremy through the dolrs midsentence. "...But where are Ulrich and Emily?"

"Here we are," Ulrich said. Jeremy looked on from over his screen at us, his eyebrows up in surprise. "You didn't think we'd let you have all the fun with Peter Duncan, did you?"

Jeremy let out a surprised sound, probably having not expected bodyguards. But he went back to work quickly, typing rapidly on his keys. A perk of the Lyoko gig: you learn to just roll with crap. "Transfer, Odd. Transfer, Aelita. Transfer, Yumi. Scanner, Odd. Scanner, Aelita. Scanner, Yumi. VIRTUALIZATION!" All three avatar cards filled with color as the three went inside. "You should see the tower,"

"Over there," Yumi acknowledged, presumably pointing.

I cringed as a familiar alarm rang out through the lab. "They're not alone," I said. Five red dots appeared on the map behind them.

"Watch out!" Aelita warned.

"Kankrelats! We haven't seen you guys for awhile. I missed you!" Odd greeted them in his usual, jokey and cocky tone. His icon ran forward. "Laser Arrow!" And that was all it took. "One down,"

The Kankrelats separated, with two going after Odd, and the remaining two focusing on Yumi and Aelita. Yumi could be heard grunting with effort. "Jeremy, we're gonna need our vehicles!"

"Your rides are on the way," Jeremy replied, fingers already flying. I tugged on my sleeves again when Yumi's life point count started falling at much too high rate. "Yumi, you're down to 10 life points! The vehicles are materializing, hurry up guys!"

"We're doing our best! It's no picnic out here!" Odd retorted back.

"There's no time, Odd! Let's go!" Yumi shouted at him. He hopped onto his Overboard.

"Must be your lucky day, you little Kanker-creeps!" he taunted. The two took off, zooming across the map, nearing ever closer to that darn tower

I heard a strange, staticky sort of noise to my left, and looked over to see that Duncan had gotten in. He let out an angry huff and sent a terrifying glare at the three of us. The eye of XANA flashed prominently where his pupils should've been, making it ten times more unnerving.

Jeremy glanced at us warily. "Can you handle him?"

Ulrich gave him a dismissive wave. "I love entertaining guests."

Duncan turned his attention completely towards us. Ulrich took on a ready stance, waiting for XANA to make the first move. Duncan went for a punch, but Ulrich was able to slide away from it. He made an attempt to attack from behind him, but an elbow was sent into his face before he could get very far. Ulrich was sent to the ground, groaning in pain and struggling to stand.

"Ulrich!" I exclaimed. I sent a glare at the XANAfied man as he went to grab Ulrich. I leapt up and tried to grapple him, pinning his arms to his sides as best I could. Of course, being a teenaged girl with no muscle whatsoever, and going up against a guy at least 160 lbs, this wouldn't have gone well for me even if he hadn't been possessed by a demonic virus. Without even sparing me a glance, he grabbed me by the hood of my jacket and threw me across the room.

I hit the wall, hard. My glasses went flying and laid useless several feet away from me. I let out a groan from pain and found myself curling into a slight ball to try and make it stop. I stopped myself, however, and instead made an attempt to stand ack up.

I barely made it onto my hands and knees before Duncan launched himself at me again, this time with sparks flying. Suddenly, Ulrich shot forward in a kick that, while succeeded in taking his attention away from me, only turned it to himself instead. Ulrich let out a cry as brightly colored sparks coursed through the body. Limp as a ragdoll, Ulrich landed across the room in a heap.

For good measure, Duncan gave me a kick, sending me back down again. He turned to Jeremy. "Now it's your turn," he snarled. Jeremy jumped out of his seat and backed away slowly, hands held out uselessly as Duncan approached.

"S-stay away!" Was all I managed to hear out of Jeremy that wasn't incoherent, panicked babbling. Duncan hoisted him up by the neck. The fist around his throat began to grow rightly as charged from throughout the lab became drawn to it.

And then, right as it seemed like it was all over for our genius friend, the sparks vanished. Duncan let out a exhausted sigh and his fist loosed, allowing Jeremy to fall safely to the ground. Duncan himself dropped like a sack of potatoes as well.

"Hey, you two ok?" Ulrich asked.

Jeremy and I glanced at one another. Jeremy just let out a sigh of relief and gave him a thumbs up. I shrugged, and followed along. I was still alive at least, so that counted for something.

I gave a worried look toward Duncan's fallen form. "So uh, since I assume we're not using a return trip for this," I looked to Jeremy for confirmation, who nodded. "What are we gonna do with, well, him?" I motioned to the criminal.

"Well..." I never did like it when Jeremy got that look on his face.

 **The Next Day**

"'Peter Duncan was found unconscious in front of police headquarters. The police are investigating, but for the moment don't have any leads as to how escaped prisoner ended up outside the police station'" Yumi read aloud from the paper

"Even if we did tell them the truth, they'd never believe us," Ulrich said.

"You're right. That's how it is for unsung heroes like ourselves: we gotta act and win, and remain in the shadows. But I guess that's what being a true hero is all about. But someday, everyone is gonna know just how brave we are, and we'll reap the real benefits and rewards true heroes deserve," Odd boasted.

I rolled my eyes. "Spoken like a true hero, everyone," I snarked. Odd only stood with an even prouder stance at my remark.

"Speaking of rewards, I just saw Ms. Meyer," Jeremy said with a crooked smile.

"Uh-oh," Odd's face fell.

"She gave me the results of the math test,"

",Oh, great. What did I get?"

"8650+51-10000+1299," Jeremy spouted off.

Odd made a face as he tried to make the calculation in his head. "You mean I got... wow, I got a hundred?"

"No. Zero," Jeremy deadpanned.

"Don't worry, Odd. One day, the everyone's gonna know how brave you are by not studying. And you'll reap the rewards that an unsung hero like you deserves!" Ulrich joked, placing a hand on Odd's shoulder.

"But don't hold your breath!" Yumi warned him, sending the rest of us into laughter. Odd made a face at all of us and folded his arms with a pouty expression.

"In any case," I started once the laughter died down. "The fact that we managed to pull that off anyway with him only waking up one time is a miracle in of itself," I said. "Of course, why I was forced to go along, I'll never understand,"

"Consider it revenge for your bad directions yesterday," Odd smirked. He seemed entirely too pleased with the prospect of teasing me again.

"Ok, if you think they're so terrible to begin with, why did you listen to them in the first place?" I pointed out.

"Because we made the mistake of thinking you knew what you were talking about. Seriously, how can you be so good at history but so god awful at basic geography?" Ulrich questioned.

"You know what, I don't have to take this abuse! I'm leaving!" I exclaimed. I picked up my bag and started heading off towards the science building.

"Other way, Emily!" Aelita called, obviously struggling not to laugh. I stopped mid step and did an aboutface. I looked over to see all of them holding their breath, trying to hide (poorly, might I add) their obvious smiles and giggling.

I stomped the other way. But not before turning back around with a message towards them

"I HATE YOU ALL!"

* * *

 _Things felt different when I arrived at the door this time. My whole body felt strange, sort of like when your foot falls asleep.T_ _he whole area seemed darker. Not very dark, more like a shadow, like when a cloud passes over the sun._

 _The door was slightly opened again as well._

 _I gulped. The last time this happened, I'd seen that flash of a memory of Aelita's, which I still didn't get. I felt a pit forming in my stomach, alo=most warning me to run away and never bother with this damn door ever again._

 _But my curiosity beat out my worry. Holding my breath, I pushed open the door._

 _A burning, searing, horrible pain shot out from my chest. I let out a cry and fell to my knees, clutching at my heart, which felt the worst of all and was acting as the source. The whole world around me had gone dark, though whether that had actually happened or was just me being unable to focus on anything but pain, I've no idea._

 _My ears were ringing so loudly. I wanted to cover them, try and block out the sound, do something, but anytime I tried to move my hands the pain became ten times worse._

 _Then I realized, I wasn't hearing just ringing, there was a faint buzz in the background as well. They were... voices? They sounded so faint it was hard to tell, but they seemed to be voices. I wasn't sure. With how little I could hear, I could only pick up bits and pieces. They were so disjointed, they couldn't have all been from one place._

 _"Wil... sta... with us?"_

 _"Yo... illy! C... on!"_

 _"Y... s...dn... e. h...!"_

 _"Wh...? Im...il...! ...ulati...s w... fl...w..d!"_

 _Then there was a beeping I think. It sounded vaguely familiar, but from where it was impossible to tell._

 _Suddenly, one voice rang out clearer than the rest of them._

 _"NO!"_

 _Then, the pain increased, which I didn't think was even possible._

 _It was all so intense, more so then I could ever describe. I just wanted it to go away._ _I tried to let out some kind of noise, but my mouth felt dry and my throat seemed clogged, making sound of any kind impossible. Breathing became difficult with pain squeezing my ribs tightly, making each breath come out shallow and forced. I held myself tightly._

 _A second scream rang out suddenly after the first cry, this one more wailing and high pitched. I squeezed my eyes shut_

 _"_ Let me LEAVE! _" I finally managed to scream out._

 _And then, a white light engulfed me._

* * *

My eyes snapped open, and almost immediately, I began frantically searching around the room. I sat up straight as a rod, pulling my knees closer to me. Everything in the room seemed ominous, from the darkened lights to the faint glow of the computer in the room. I pressed my knees tightly against my face to stop myself from crying out; tears pricked at my eyes, which I found nearly impossible to blink back.

Finally, I looked over at Aelita. She was sound asleep, clutching Mr. Puck tightly to her chest. And amazingly enough, that was almost all it took. As I watched her chest rise and fall, I found my own breathing falling into a more natural pace. I let out a shaky breath after several minutes passed, and finally allowed myself to lay back down on my pillow.

I didn't dare close my eyes, fearing that the overwhelming darkness would cause the pain to return somehow.

God, the pain...

I couldn't think of anything else in that moment other than the pain, it had been that consuming.

And the _scream_... I can still hear it. It was so loud, so full of terror, so... so...

Familiar.

That was the scariest part. It was _familiar_ , and I couldn't pinpoint how or why. It sounded like a child, but I'd never known a child that screamed like that.

I glanced at Aelita again and frowned.

" _I've seen her memories before... could it be one of them?_ " But why then, would it sound familiar? Was it Aelita screaming?

I pulled a cover around myself when I noticed I'd started shivering again. I stared out of the window towards the top of the room.

It was the only thing I could focus on for the rest of the night.

* * *

 **Phew, this took awhile. I'm still not sure I'm entirely happy with this end result, especially this ending, but I finally finished it.**

 **Common Interest is an episode I enjoy a lot. The Lyoko bits are a tad boring I'll admit, seeming to be somewhat filled with stock footage (though not nearly as bad as season 1 was about it, so we'll let it slide). But the stuff in the real world is nice. And I like the concept a lot, with the battery dying while Aelita is still tethered to the supercomputer and all.**

 **I'm gonna try and get out some more chapters ASAP, but with everything going on, it may not happen as I'd like.**

 **I know the ending was a little weird, but we're getting somewhere, I promise.**

 **See you guys next time.**

 **I'm gonna go sleep now, and drink water. Cause it's like 11 at night, and I'm dehyrated.**

 **Thanks ADHD.**


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